Staff on the homepage

IMAGES DO NOT HAVE TO BE COMPLETELY REMOVED FROM THE WEBSITE

The removal of an employee’s image and name from the website cannot be demanded. Blurring or similar measures are sufficient.

INFORMATION ON THE CASE

During their training, a photo was taken of a total of six trainees and published on the homepage. The trainees’ first and last names were listed below the image. One employee left the company, but the photo remained on the homepage. She filed a lawsuit against this with the Labor Court in Frankfurt am Main. However, the court only partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff. The demand for the complete removal of the image and the name is unfounded. According to the judges, this is also not necessary to remedy the violation of the right to one’s own image or an infringement of personality rights. This is because complete removal would ultimately result in empty or white spaces.

Employee photos: Blurring is sufficient

Since the plaintiff was not the only trainee depicted and the company indicated an interest in portraying historical events, this would not be proportionate. In the court’s opinion, it is sufficient to obscure the plaintiff’s face and name. Several options are available for this, such as pixelating the face and name, adding black bars over the face, or retouching the face.