France: The Fact That an Employee Transfers Confidential Company Documents Via Their Personal Email Account Does Not Necessarily Constitute Serious Misconduct

On April 9^th 2025, the French Supreme Court ruled that the fact that an employee had transferred confidential company documents via his personal email account was not sufficient per se to render impossible the continuation of the employment contract and therefore, the employee’s dismissal for serious misconduct.

In this case, the French Supreme Court considered that although the employee’s actions were in breach of her contractual confidentiality obligation, the company’s IT policy and Code of Conduct and had sought to hide her action from the company by deleting any trace of this transfer, this was not sufficient to justify her dismissal for serious misconduct as there was no evidence that she had disclosed the documentation with any person outside the company. The facts that the employee had been with the company many years,  never been disciplined in the past, and had not been reminded of her obligations prior to the dismissal were also considered to decide that this action did not justify a dismissal for serious misconduct.

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel

Ensure that you regularly communicate your IT policy and Code of Conduct to staff.