The Labour Court of Boulogne Billancourt held on November 19, 2010, that disparaging remarks posted to Facebook by employees of a company went beyond the private sphere and justified a dismissal for serious misconduct. The remarks incited rebellion and were available to "friends” and “friends of friends."
The remarks have been characterized as public denigration against the employee’s hierarchy, damaging the image of the company. This damage was all the more important given that some "friends" who accessed the Facebook page were employees of the company and that one of the employees participating in the denigrating discussion was in charge of recruitment.
Interestingly, the increase in cyberbullying on social networks has been a subject of attention by CNIL recently. This decision is likely to be followed by others of the kind.
