It failed to comply with safety and hygiene regulations, keep record of overtime hours, adequately respond to mobbing. In addition, the employer breached provisions on holiday entitlements. Witold K. suffered a work accident as a result of which his health deteriorated. His level of disability was reclassified to moderate and a doctor recommended that he should be doing lighter work and work fewer hours. Following the incident, the company terminated his employment contract.
After his dismissal, the defendant placed a disputable post on one of the job recruitment websites. The same website contained many other critical entries posted by Internet users dissatisfied with the company. In the meantime, the defendant informed the National Labour Inspectorate about the violations. The preliminary inspection confirmed, among other things, that the company did not abide by the safety and hygiene regulations and that its employees were victims of mobbing.
In connection with his online post, the Police pressed charges against Witold K. accusing him of defamation, the offence under article 212(2) of the Criminal Code. In March 2013, the District Court in Bydgoszcz found the defendant guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of 1200 zloty and to reimburse the court costs in the amount of 120 zloty. Witold K. submitted a complaint against the court’s ruling. The first hearing in the case will be held on 19 June, at 9.40 am.
The Foundation will be observing the court proceedings in the case. “The case of Witold K. may be interesting because of it concerns the limits of the freedom to express critical but fact-based opinions online. As a rule, we may expect that a company having the status of a supported employment enterprise pays more attention to the safety of its employees. Therefore, should any violations in this regard happen, the company must brace itself for criticism”, says Dorota Głowacka, a lawyer with the Foundation’s Observatory of the Freedom of Media in Poland.
Witold K. is represented by Mr Jakub Czarnecki of Fiks Korpecki Czarnecki Adwokaci, acting pro bono as a courtesy to the Foundation.
