BAG: Dismissal due to insult in Whatsapp Chat

An employee who makes strongly insulting, racist, sexist and violent comments about superiors and other colleagues in a private chat group consisting of seven members can only invoke a justified expectation of confidentiality as grounds for extraordinary termination of his employment relationship in exceptional cases.

Key Facts

An employee can only rarely invoke a justified expectation of confidentiality in the case of insulting statements in a chat group.
The plaintiff had been a member of a chat group with six other employees since 2014.
He made racist and sexist comments about superiors and colleagues.
After learning of this, the defendant terminated the plaintiff's employment contract without notice.
The lower courts upheld the plaintiff's claim, while the Federal Labor Court accepted the defendant's appeal.
An expectation of confidentiality depends on the size of the chat group and the content of the messages.
The Federal Labor Court referred the case back to examine the plaintiff's presentation.

The plaintiff, who was employed by the defendant, had belonged to a chat group with five other employees since 2014. In November 2020, a former colleague was added as another group member. According to the lower court’s findings, all group members were “long-time friends,” and two were related to each other.

In addition to purely private topics, the plaintiff – as well as several other group members – expressed himself in an insulting and inhumane manner, including about superiors and work colleagues. After the defendant became aware of this by chance, it terminated the plaintiff’s employment for cause without notice.

Both lower courts upheld the plaintiff’s action for protection against dismissal. The defendant’s appeal was successful before the Second Senate of the Federal Labor Court. The Court of Appeal erred in law in assuming that the plaintiff had a legitimate expectation of confidentiality with regard to the statements of which he was accused and in denying the existence of a reason for termination.

An expectation of confidentiality is only justified if the members of the chat group can claim the special personal rights protection of a sphere of confidential communication. This in turn depends on the content of the messages exchanged as well as the size and personnel composition of the chat group.

If the subject of the messages – as in the present case – is insulting and inhumane statements about company employees, a special explanation is required as to why the employee could justifiably expect that their content would not be passed on to a third party by any group member.

The Federal Labor Court reversed the appellate judgment in this respect and referred the case back to the Regional Labor Court. This will give the plaintiff the opportunity to explain why he could have a legitimate expectation of confidentiality in view of the size of the chat group, its changed composition, the varying participation of the group members in the chats and the use of a medium designed for the rapid forwarding of comments.

Author: Marian Härtel

Marian Härtel ist Rechtsanwalt und Fachanwalt für IT-Recht mit einer über 25-jährigen Erfahrung als Unternehmer und Berater in den Bereichen Games, E-Sport, Blockchain, SaaS und Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Beratungsschwerpunkte umfassen neben dem IT-Recht insbesondere das Urheberrecht, Medienrecht sowie Wettbewerbsrecht. Er betreut schwerpunktmäßig Start-ups, Agenturen und Influencer, die er in strategischen Fragen, komplexen Vertragsangelegenheiten sowie bei Investitionsprojekten begleitet. Dabei zeichnet sich seine Beratung durch einen interdisziplinären Ansatz aus, der juristische Expertise und langjährige unternehmerische Erfahrung miteinander verbindet. Ziel seiner Tätigkeit ist stets, Mandanten praxisorientierte Lösungen anzubieten und rechtlich fundierte Unterstützung bei der Umsetzung innovativer Geschäftsmodelle zu gewährleisten.