Can the mass transfer of emails justify the dismissal of a protected employee?

On March 2, 2020, the Centre Hélène Borel, a medical-social organization, sought authorization to dismiss Ms. B…, a social worker and protected employee, on disciplinary grounds.

The association accused Ms. B… of forwarding, from her work email account, hundreds of emails to her personal email account and to her spouse’s personal email account, even though these emails contained information regarding residents under the association’s care.

In a decision dated April 30, 2020, the competent labor inspector refused to grant the requested authorization for dismissal.

In a decision dated December 4, 2020, the Minister of Labor finally authorized the dismissal of Ms. B….