Spiked: Advertising medium against its will
You can argue about the most trivial things, as this case recently heard by the Federal Labor Court in Erfurt, Germany, shows: The employee of an air conditioning and refrigeration technology company had himself filmed at work for a company promotional film.
In the tense five-minute film, he was seen for a few seconds at a switchboard and later on a chair. The film was distributed on the Internet and on the company website. Three years later, the man left the company and demanded that his former employer delete the film within ten days, as well as compensation for pain and suffering, because he felt that his right to privacy had been violated and that he no longer wanted to be part of the company. The company refused to comply with the testimonial's demand and was found to be right in all instances. The judges ruled that the employee had given his written consent to the recordings and that this did not automatically expire when the employment relationship ended. Conclusion: Never film your employees at work - unless your name is Fischer and you run a bedding factory in Wädenswil ... afh
