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A comment on Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam awarded €75K in court. Parent comment

Re:Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam... by formerly_proven on Sunday October 09, 2022 @08:56AM (#33140539)
This isn't harmonized across the EU though, e.g. in German labor courts each side pays their own fees and lawyers regardless of outcome. So even a completely illegal action by your employer can/will still cost you hundreds to thousands of euros when you go and fight it. (The flip side is you don't have to pay for a team of expensive corpo-lawyers in case you loose)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam... by Xylakant on Sunday October 09, 2022 @09:25AM (#33140745)
The rules depend on what court you go to. In the first instance, both sides pay their own lawyers, but the court fees are paid by the loosing party (1). The fees are usually not very high, so that‘s not much of a barrier. On an appeal, the loosing party pays all fees, including the opponents lawyers (1).

Being in a union pays off in labor court: Unions usually offer sending their legal staff instead of a lawyer that you‘d need to personally retain. This substantially reduces the costs of a court case for the employee.

See https://www.klugo.de/ratgeber/arbeitsgericht-kosten

(1) or shared, on partial wins.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam... by sidewndr46 on Sunday October 09, 2022 @09:33AM (#33140811)
You're applying the American Rule backwards. There is no default presumption in the US legal system that you pay the winner's legal fees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_rule_(attorney%27s_fe...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Dutch employee fired by U.S. firm for shutting off webcam... by RalfWausE on Monday October 10, 2022 @02:25AM (#33148400)
Most people in germany (at least the ones with common sense) have a "Arbeitsrechtsschutz", a insurance which covers legal fees, a lawyer and so on. As this insurance is very cheap (i pay around 30 Euros a month) i can only recommend this for anyone working in germany.
[ Parent | on HN ]