Spanish Constitutional Court permits monitoring of employees’ email

Spain’s highest court for constitutional matters, the Tribunal Constitucional, has ruled, in Pérez González v. Alcaliber S.A., that it is permissible for a company to monitor its employees’ company-provided email and mobile-phone use, and that the company was justified in firing an employee when it discovered, through such monitoring, that he had leaked confidential information.  The court found that the company had not violated the employee’s right to privacy, as such monitoring was foreseeable.  In recent years, European courts have upheld the right of employers to monitor employee communications under certain conditions.  The Tribunal’s decision clarifies the situation for employers in Spain.