ECtHR On Social Media-linked Dismissal

The European Court of Human Right's (ECtHR) ruling of 15 June 2021, (Melike v. Turkey) concerned the dismissal of a contractual cleaning lady in an educational government service because she 'liked' (politically) sensitive posts on Facebook. The Court considered this dismissal as a violation of the employee's freedom of expression (Article 10 European Convention of Human Rights).

Ms. Melike worked as a contractual cleaning lady for the Seyhan National Education Directorate in Adana since 1996. After she 'liked' certain Facebook posts which mentioned accusations against some teachers and political criticism, her employer started a disciplinary procedure as this violated the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement. As a result of this procedure, she was dismissed without notice or compensation. The Turkish labour court refused her claims as it did not consider her actions to fall under the scope of the freedom of expression and it claimed that her actions