Dutchman awarded €75,000 after US company tried to force him to activate webcam

Imagine being fired for not turning your webcam while working so your superiors can spy on you. It sounds horrifically made-up, doesn’t it?

One man’s wrongful dismissal for not turning his webcam on fired up people all over the internet, and lit a legal fire under his employer — to the tune of €75,000! 🔥

Except, for one Dutchman, it was all too horrifically real, reports Metro.

Big Brother wishes he were watching you

The unnamed ex-employee worked as a telemarketer for the tech company Chetu Inc., based in Miramar, Florida.

He was employed there for over a year and a half with no issues, before being asked to participate in a “Corrective Action Programme”.

During this period, he had to have his screen sharing on, be logged in, and have his webcam on…*record scratches* throughout the entire day. 🤨

Because he isn’t a character in George Orwell’s novel ‘1984,’ the man protested at the invasion of privacy. He suggested the company could follow all his activities via screen sharing instead.

The company’s response, however, was to give him the boot for “refusal to work” and “insubordination”.

The law’s got your back, Jack!

Unfortunately for Chetu Inc., a complaint was soon made to the Zeeland-West Brabant court against them.

The court found that no concrete reason had been given for the sudden firing, which meant that it wasn’t legally valid.

Although Chetu Inc. tried to argue that spying on their workers in their homes was no different to having them watched in an office environment (ummm…hello? 🙄), the court wasn’t having any of it.

They promptly slapped Chetu Inc. with Article 8 of the European Treaty on Human Rights, which states that “video surveillance” of an employee must be considered a “considerable intrusion into the employee’s private life”.

Human rights violations are expensive (who knew?)

Finding the bizarre webcam rules an invasion of privacy, the court ordered Chetu Inc. to pay their ex-employee a grand sum of €75,000.

The amount also includes €585 for the ex-employee’s legal fees and other legal costs, an 8% holiday allowance, €2,700 in unpaid salary, €8,375 for the unlawful dismissal, €9,500 in counselling  — and a whopping €50,000 in damages. 💰

Do you think it’s a reasonable request to have your webcam on the entire time you’re working from home? Tell us all about it in the comments below!

Feature Image:Freepik
Liana Pereira 🇱🇰
Liana Pereira 🇱🇰
Liana juggles her role as an Editor with wrapping up a degree in cognitive linguistics and assisting with DutchReview's affiliate portfolio. Since arriving in the Netherlands for her studies in 2018, she's thrilled to have the 'write' opportunity to help other internationals feel more at home here — whether that's by penning an article on the best SIMs to buy in NL, the latest banking features, or important things to know about Dutch health insurance.

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