An employee in the Netherlands at Chetu, a Florida company, has won a lawsuit against his employer for unfair dismissal over the topic of remote work webcam monitoring.
The worker was asked to enable screen sharing and webcam access for an entire work day while attending a training program, but after refusing to do so, he encountered the bag. This may be over the board in Florida where workers or companies are not required to give any notice or reason to terminate a contract, yet employment rules around the world offer different levels of protection.
According to publicly available court documents issued by the Zeeland West Brabant Court, the worker explained to the company:
“I don’t feel comfortable being monitored for 9 hours a day by a camera. This is a violation of my privacy and makes me feel really uncomfortable. This is why my camera is not on. You can actually monitor all the activities on my laptop as I am sharing my screen.”
Monitor employees via webcam
The next day, Chito notified the worker of the termination of his contract via email, on the basis of refusal to work and disobedience.
Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of the worker, insisting that Chito pay the plaintiff $2,600 in unpaid salary, $9,245 in transitional assistance for workers, and $8,150 based on wrongful contract termination. The ends extended to the equivalent of 23 days of vacation pay, an 8% vacation allowance, no court fees and late payment, bringing the total to nearly $50,000.
The court concluded that “nine-hour-a-day camera surveillance is disproportionate and not permitted in the Netherlands. In addition, he was already checked for output via software installed on his laptop.” She continues, “There was no doubt about the refusal to work.”
The court notes also highlight the company’s lack of a statement or defense against the case, along with the fact that Chitto did not attend the hearing.
Chitto has since dissolved its Dutch subsidiary, and its registration has been revoked from the country’s commercial registry with effect from September 1, 2022.
Pro radar technology The company has been asked to respond to the ruling.