The employee in question had repeatedly stated that he could not work or drive a car due to knee problems, but it turned out that he had been doing odd jobs in his new home for two months. A tip from a colleague led to the suspicion that this employee was lying to his employer and company doctor. The instant dismissal of this lying employee was declared valid by the court without imposing a fine for privacy violation.

Cases like this are of course very casuistic and it is certainly not a license for employers to just use detectives to track employees, but there is room. We advise employers to always make a careful weighing of interests here and preferably to obtain prior advice from a legal counsel. This case provides a valuable addition to the case law on employee privacy, and we are naturally proud of that.