Have you ever taken part in an HR debate or forum online? Have you thought about starting your own? Do you think you should be sacked for doing so? That's what happened in this Hungarian case that has made its way to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

This case concerned the applicant’s dismissal from his job in human resources in a bank owing to his involvement with a website devoted to HR issues.  In January 2011 the applicant, together with Ms A.N., started a knowledge-sharing website for human resources management-related publications and events.  The website also contained a presentation of the applicant with his photograph, describing him as an expert in human resources management and indicating that he worked in the human resources department of a large domestic bank, without mentioning his employer (Bank O).

The applicant’s employment was terminated on 11 February  2011 for breaching his employer’s confidentiality standards.  The bank argued that the applicant’s conduct in providing educational services in the field of human resources management had infringed its economic interests.  Moreover, given the nature of his position, the applicant was in possession of information whose publication would have interfered with the bank’s business interests.

The European Court of Human Rights found in particular that the domestic courts had failed to carry out an adequate exercise to balance the applicant’s right to freedom of expression against the bank’s right to protect its legitimate business interests.

However, the ECtHR went on to find that, "... even given a certain level of deference under domestic law to employers to determine which conduct could disrupt working relations without such disruption being clearly manifest, neither the bank nor the Kúria [the Hungarian Supreme Court] had made any attempt to show how the speech in question could have adversely affected the bank." Indeed, the claimant argued that the website had served as a discussion forum for general human resources knowledge, without disseminating specific information about his work at the bank.

The ECtHR also disagreed with domestic court findings that articles on topics that were of interest to a professional audience could not benefit from free speech protection simply because they were not part of a debate of general public interest.  Although for "...the Kúria, the mere fact that the applicant had featured as an expert on the website and had authored a contribution on human resources management reflecting knowledge acquired through his work was sufficient to conclude that he had acted to his employer’s detriment... [And] The Court accepts that, under Hungarian law, employers are entitled to a degree of deference in deciding which conduct could lead to the disruption of working relations even without such disruption being manifest. However, in the present case neither the applicant’s employer nor the Kúria made any attempt to demonstrate in what way the speech in question could have adversely affected the business interests of Bank O."

Practical Lessons

It is unlikely that any HR professional would be dismissed in Ireland merely for joining or even setting up an HR forum. Many might see it as a useful and necessary part of the job. However, the claimant's opinion on the forum might be deemed controversial by some and there could be potential for conflict or even bringing an employer into disrepute - unfortunately for the employer, they failed to bring forward evidence of that in this case. However, employees would be wise to discuss their online activities with their employers before starting a new endeavour - one could easily see where a venture might lead to distractions or resource issues in certain cases.  
https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-197216%22]}