In a decision handed down on 17 October 2019 the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that covert video-surveillance of staff, which in this case subsequently resulted in employee dismissals, did not constitute a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, nor of Article 6 section 1 ensuring the right to a fair trial. The ECHR judges deemed that the Spanish courts’ judges had meticulously assessed the rights of both the applicants’, in this case supermarket employees suspected of theft, and the employer, and that they had examined in detail the grounds for video-surveillance. One of the applicants’ arguments was that they had not been informed ahead of time that the employer would be video-monitoring their activities, despite a legal requirement so to do. The Court however deemed that the video-surveillance measure was justified given the employer’s legitimate suspicion of serious irregular activity (misconduct) as well as serious observed losses.
In support of the non-violation of Article 8 of the EU Convention, the ECHR argued that the principles from the Barbelescu vs. Romania case (c.f. article No. 9452), which addressed employer monitoring of employee e-mail accounts could transpose to video-monitoring in the workplace. In the Barbelescu vs Romania case the complainant argued the employer’s reading of the employees instant messages (Yahoo Messenger) was a violation of the right to privacy and confidential messaging.
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