Court rules against workers flirting on corporate email accounts
by Daily Sabah
ISTANBULMay 12, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Daily Sabah
May 12, 2016 12:00 am
The Constitutional Court has rendered a verdict against workers regarding Internet use in the workplace. The verdict comes after one employer presented corporate emails to the court as evidence after firing two employees who are accused of flirting with each other.
The court's decision comes after a similar ruling was granted by the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court of Appeals previously approved the firing of workers for inappropriate use of the Internet in the workplace, including pornography or gambling.
After the two workers were fired, the Constitutional Court rejected the employer's presentation of corporate emails as valid evidence, citing the infringement of the employee's right to privacy.According to a report by the Turkish newspaper Habertürk, the Constitutional Court's ruling was published in the official gazette on Tuesday. The resolution stated that, "As the content of correspondence which was conducted during the judicial process, was not made public, the court must grant the plaintiffs the right to privacy which is guaranteed by Article 20 of the Constitution. The privacy of communication which is guaranteed by Article 22 of the Constitution was not violated."
According to the lawsuit filed by Ö. K. and O. Ö., who worked in the same company, O. Ö's wife visited the company's CEO in 2012 and presented emails as evidence. Ö. K. and O. Ö. were then fired and they initiated a reemployment lawsuit. The decree banned the use of a company's resources, computers and corporate email accounts for individual purposes, stating that correspondence and communication records of a company can be followed and examined in necessary cases. Also, it was stressed that corporate email accounts were used to exchange non-work-related correspondence although personal accounts could be used within working hours.
Article 26 of Labor Law No. 4857 stipulates that the right to terminate a labor contract ends within six days after the case comes to light and one year after the incident passes.
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