Fired for uploading videos to TikTok while on sick leave

The impact and dimension reached by social networks and what we publish on them can sometimes have an extremely negative impact that is beyond the control of their users.

Proof of this is the ruling handed down by the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León No. 644/2022, dated September 29, 2022, which has ratified the decision handed down by the Social Court No. 2 of Burgos declaring the dismissal of a supermarket cashier who, during the eight and a half months she was on sick leave due to low back pain, uploaded to her profile on the social network Tik Tok several videos of her dancing and performing movements incompatible with her ailments, and which naturally harmed her recovery.

In the letter of dismissal, the employee is accused of breach of contract under the provisions of Article 54.2.d) of the Workers’ Statute and Articles 37.2 and 37.3 of the 8th Collective Bargaining Agreement for Medium-Sized Food Distribution Retailers in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, applicable during the period from 2021 to 2026.

Specifically, the company based its disciplinary termination decision on the breach of contractual good faith, as well as on the alleged simulation of illness, fraud, disloyalty and breach of trust in the performance of his profession.

The company, in order to prove the breach of contract in court after the dismissal was challenged by the employee, provided computer evidence showing the publication of the videos, duly accompanied by a notarial deed confirming the reality and date of the videos. Consequently, the courts rejected the challenge to the dismissal on the grounds that the employee’s behavior represented a breach of good faith in the contract, which naturally includes the employee’s obligation not to harm her health by unnecessarily extending her sick leave, with the damages that this could cause to the company by not being able to use her services during her sick leave.

It is logical that the worker who is on medical leave must do everything necessary to recover from the illness or accident that prevents him from working, otherwise he may be susceptible to dismissal as occurred in the aforementioned case.

In short, this statement evidences the great reach that social networks such as TikTok have in our society and what their users publish.

Article written by Cynthia Zárate