A recent sub-district court decision in the Netherlands dealt with the limits of an employee’s freedom of expression. In this case, an intensive care nurse at the Elisabeth-Tweesteden Hospital (ETZ) was given a warning for posting on social media comments that doctors were “brainwashed.” In its warning to the employee, the ETZ referred to its social media code of conduct and asked the nurse to consider the interests of the ETZ as well as the consequences that his comments could have for the image of the ETZ and his relationships with his colleagues.
Interview, despite the warning
Despite this warning, the employee took the initiative to give an interview about the way COVID-19 patients were being treated at the ETZ. During the interview, he also mentioned details about the patients, including deceased patients, albeit without naming names. In response, the ETZ suspended the nurse and asked the sub-district court to dissolve his employment contract without awarding a transition payment on the grounds of seriously culpable conduct. In his defense, the nurse argued on behalf of freedom of expression and indicated that he wanted his employment at the ETZ to continue.
Sub-district court
The sub-district court held that freedom of expression was not unfettered. The judge referred to the Herbai judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), where the Court held that there were four important elements when deciding whether it was permissible to restrict the right to...
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