appealAn experienced Lidl employee who showed offensive videos in the workplace and, according to his employer, threatened colleagues, has rightly been fired after 13 years of employment. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal has decided this on appeal.
The 49-year-old employee has worked for Lidl’s distribution center since 2006. He had an indefinite contract. In the autumn of 2019, the confidential counselor received complaints about the man from various colleagues. During working hours, for example, he would have shown videos in which he poses with a firearm and cross-border images of sexual behavior in which a young child would have been present.
Furthermore, several employees stated that he regularly made shooting gestures at his colleagues and made inappropriate comments, such as “I will slit your throat” and “I rape your wife in front of your children.” In a conversation with the confidential counselor and his manager, the employee denied all allegations. Still, Lidl felt there was enough evidence to fire him on the spot and notify the police. In the letter of resignation, it was stated that Lidl “definitely cannot tolerate this behaviour”.
To the judge
The police spoke to the employee a day later and confiscated his mobile phone for investigation. No child pornography was found and he thus escaped criminal prosecution. This was not enough for the employee, he felt that he had been unfairly dismissed and demanded more than 11,000 euros gross due to irregular termination of the employment contract, a transition payment of more than 13,000 euros gross and a fair compensation of more than 336,000 euros gross.
The Court of Appeal, like the judge, ruled that the employee was rightly dismissed by Lidl. Not only did three colleagues make signed statements explaining in detail about the display of those images, these colleagues were also heard as witnesses and confirmed their statements under oath. According to the court, these statements correspond: the three colleagues each told themselves that the employee showed them a video from a mobile phone in which a small boy performed sexual behavior with an adult woman.
Safe working environment
The fact that no child pornography was eventually found on the mobile phone and that the employee denies to this day does not detract from the statements of the colleagues. Despite the length of his employment, his limited language skills and employment opportunities, there is an urgent reason for the dismissal, can be read in the verdict. According to the court, showing the controversial footage is ‘completely incompatible with the safe working environment that Lidl must offer its employees as a good employer’.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss out on any of the stars.
#Lidl #fired #years #man #threatened #rape #wife #front #children