Freedom of expression in the company has its limits. It is forbidden for an employee to make excessive, insulting or defamatory remarks. If it cannot be characterized as such, then it is a matter of freedom of expression.
One company dismissed a commercial manager for gross misconduct because in response to colleagues, he had said such things as:
as far as my request is concerned, i am not talking about urgency, i am asking you to respond as soon as possible
,
the first shot is neither made nor made
, or
do you think i can handle those kinds of emails?
.
The Court of Appeal held that the sending of these emails did not constitute a grave fault because their contents were not excessive and did not prevent the employee from remaining in the company. However, it established that they were a real and serious cause of dismissal.
The Court of Cassation disagrees. It considers that if there is no abuse arising from abusive, defamatory or excessive language, the employee has his freedom of expression within the company. His dismissal therefore has no real and serious cause.
