A U.S.-based employer faced legal consequences after it terminated a remote employee in the Netherlands who refused to keep his camera on for the whole nine-hour workday. The Dutch Court held that the dismissal of the employee was illegal, in part, because the employer violated the employee's right to a private life. This case highlights how employers run risks when they oversee the productivity of remote employees and the use of technology in doing so. While employers seek to manage the virtual workplace, they may come into conflict with their employees' desires to maintain privacy—especially in this complex and evolving area of employment.
Chetu Terminated Employee Who Refused Video Surveillance
Chetu Inc. is an American company that produces, publishes and provides support for software, employing approximately 2,600 employees worldwide. Chetu hired the plaintiff in this case, an unnamed employee, as a telemarketer to work remotely from the Netherlands in 2019.
In August 2022, Chetu sent the employee an e-mail informing him that he needed to participate in a virtual corrective action webinar and that he would need to keep his camera on for the entire nine-hour day. Following this instruction, the employee responded by e-mail that he did not feel comfortable "being monitored for nine hours a day by a camera" because it was an invasion of his privacy. He further stated that Chetu could already monitor his activity as he had to share his screen.
Chetu, however, stood by...
The notorious ShinyHunters gang on Tuesday claims to have breached the FBI, compromising multiple systems and agent data – all in apparent retaliation against the law enforcement agency for publis...