A company decided to install video recording equipment in the canteen area where beverage vending machines were to identify the perpetrators of intentional damage to the machines that occurred repeatedly since April 2018. The cameras focused exclusively on the vending machines installed, without focusing on the rest of the room, as well as on people who were not approaching them, and without sound recording.

It thus dismissed three workers who committed the acts of vandalism.

The Supreme Court confirmed the judgment of the of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia (TSJ) of Catalonia , upholding the company's appeal and overturned the ruling handed down at first instance (which declared the dismissal to be unjustified), stated the validity of the evidence obtained by the Company and declared the dismissal lawful.

Although it is true that the workers were not informed in advance of the installation of the controversial recording cameras, this does not, according to TSJ, determine a violation of fundamental rights, considering the degree of intrusion and the adequacy of the measure to the intended purpose.

In particular:

- the measure is justified by legitimate grounds, based not on mere suspicion but on the establishment of illegal conduct repeated over time;

- the degree of intrusion is minimal because of the area and persons targeted, so that it is limited to what is strictly necessary.

- the temporary scope of the measure is reduced to one month, ceasing as soon as sufficient images are available, respecting the canons of proportionality, reasonableness, and adequacy.

Thus, according to the TSJ of Catalonia, and confirmed by the Supreme Court, the seriousness of the acts committed by the workers, which appear in the records provided by the company and obtained legally, justifies the dismissal for breach of contractual good faith, classifying it as justified.

The Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales - CEOE) welcomes this ruling of the Social Court insofar as it seeks to balance the right to protection of workers' privacy with the company's ability to control. According to the organisation, the tools of control and surveillance must be used when necessary and proportionate and the right to privacy of workers must be guaranteed.