Court Says Deutsche Post Can't Film Employees

A Federal Labor Court in Erfurt on Tuesday struck down an appeal by Deutsche Post AG to set up a video surveillance unit in a letter-distribution center in Berlin. The court ruled that the move would amount to a huge invasion of the employees' right to privacy. Deutsche Post wanted to monitor the distribution center in Berlin to see whether any of the letters were misplaced in the hall where 650 employees work. The company's workers' council contested the move and set up an arbitration committee that decided the company could set up visible cameras and allow them to run for 50 hours a week. The employees, however, would have been unaware of when the cameras were working.