[1]
The case concerned the covert video surveillance of a Spanish supermarket chain’s employees after suspicions of theft had arisen. The applicants were dismissed mainly on the basis of the video material, which they alleged had been obtained by breaching their right to privacy. The Spanish courts accepted the recordings in evidence and upheld the dismissal decisions.
[2]
The Court found in particular that under Spanish data protection legislation the applicants should have been informed that they were under surveillance, but they had not been. The employer’s rights could have been safeguarded by other means and it could have provided the applicants at the least with general information about the surveillance. The domestic courts had failed to strike a fair balance between the applicants' right to privacy and the employer’s property rights.
[3]
However, the Court found that the proceedings as whole had been fair because the video material was not the only evidence the domestic courts had relied on when upholding the dismissal decisions and the applicants had been able to challenge the recordings in court.
Judgement of the ECHR no. 1874/13 of 9 January 2018
Source: press release of the ECHR no. 007 (2018) of 9 January 2018
