An employer asks the employee's treating physician for information on the dates of sick leave. The latter was subsequently dismissed in part because of the information provided. It decides to refer the matter to the court.

The Court of Appeal held that the employer had infringed the employee's right to privacy because medical confidentiality must cover all information concerning the person. The employer was therefore not entitled to contact the latter's doctor, even if this concerned the exchange of administrative information. The Court of Appeal noted that certain information given was underlined in the letter of dismissal. It condemns the business and considers the dismissal null and void.

The employer appeals to the Court of Cassation. It states that it did not infringe the employee's privacy by contacting his treating physician. Furthermore, he states that the dismissal was not based directly on information gathered from the occupational physician.

The Court of Cassation upholds the appeal judgment and declares the dismissal null and void. It relies on Article 9 of the Civil Code to state that ‘the employee has the right, even at time and place of work, to respect for his private life, in particular as regards his state of health and his relations with his attending physician’. Thus, by contacting the treating physician and violating medical confidentiality, the employer necessarily violates one of the employee's fundamental freedoms, namely the right to respect for his or her private life.

In such cases, the employer can contact the Health Insurance and request a check-up. He can also ask the occupational physician “for any question concerning the health of his employees”.