French Employees Should Check Their Privacy Settings Before Posting On Social Media Platforms

It may seem obvious to a lay person that employees should refrain from insulting their companies on social media due to the threat of termination for cause; however, there are contradictory legal principles that apply to the use of social media by employees which can be used both for and against employees (i.e. freedom of speech, right to privacy, data protection laws, an employer's right to take disciplinary action, public insult offense, etc.) As a consequence, there is uncertainty as to whether an employer can use its employees' postings made on social media websites to sanction them.

As illustrated by the following decisions, French case law remains divided on the issue of an employer's right to sanction employees for social media postings. In two recent decisions, French courts ruled that employees posting insulting comments about their employers on a social media website could be terminated for fault and also fined for the offense of public insult. One