In a judgment of 3 October 2018, the Court of Cassation held that, in order to dismiss the employee, the employer must be able to demonstrate that he is actually the author of the internet connections during his working time.
An employee employed in a risk analysis business is dismissed for gross misconduct. His employer criticizes him for using the business' computer during his working hours for strictly personal purposes (numerous connections to pornographic sites having been discovered by the employer).
The employee does not dispute that connections were made from his workstation but denies that he was the author. Indeed, the keys of his office are accessible to all the staff and the choice of passwords makes it possible to access the computer station to any employee.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the dismissal had no real and serious cause. The Court of Cassation approved his reasoning: the employer had not produced any evidence to ensure that the employee was really the author of the alleged acts.
