Catherine Sanderson
Catherine Sanderson wrote the Petite Anglaise blog

Blogger wins wrongful dismissal case

'Petite Anglaise' awarded £30K at Paris tribunal

Written by Matt Chapman

An English secretary sacked for bringing her employers into disrepute by writing a personal blog has won her case for wrongful dismissal at a hearing in Paris.

Catherine Sanderson wrote the Petite Anglaise blog detailing her Bridget Jones-style life in Paris, but was sacked after her picture appeared on the site.

Advertisement

The 34 year-old secretary worked at the Paris headquarters of UK company Dixon Wilson.

The industrial tribunal ordered the accountancy firm to pay Sanderson €44,000 (£30,000), plus €500 legal costs and to reimburse the French government for the cost of her six months' benefits claim.

Sanderson's lawyers had been seeking a payout of £60,000.

The blog was written anonymously, with Anderson calling herself 'Petite Anglaise' and talking about her former boyfriend 'Mr Frog' and their child 'Tadpole'.

But when photographs of her appeared on the site, partners at Dixon Wilson claimed that the firm's reputation was harmed.

Sanderson was sacked for 'gross misconduct', although this charge was later reduced to 'loss of confidence' and 'dismissal with real and serious cause'.

The blogger has since signed a two-book publishing deal thought to be worth nearly £500,000. The first volume is expected in Britain in January 2008.

Tags:

Related whitepapers

Related jobs

Do you agree?

IT white papers

Search vnunet IThound

Top categories

Job of the week

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Hiring now on ComputingCareers:

Related IT jobs

Search thousands of IT jobs :

Search thousands of IT jobs:

Advanced search

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Enter email address to edit your newsletter preferences

Watch

Shaun Nichols and Iain Thomson

03 Oct 2008

6.49 MBPodcast Special: Views from the Valley More...

Podcast image

02 Oct 2008

14.35 MBComputing podcast - Next-generation broadband Britain; and we report from Gartner's IT security summit More...

Shaun Nichols and Iain Thomson

26 Sep 2008

3.43 MBPodcast Special: Views from the Valley More...

Poll

Google Android

Google Android

Are you intending to try out a Google Android mobile phone?

Previous poll results

Spotlight

HP iPaq 514

Rumours hint at HP iPhone rival

Vendor's iPaq line may gain touch model   More...

Ask.com

Ask.com bullish about the future

Search firm outlines plans for market share gains   More...

National Identity Fraud Prevention Week

Nine out of 10 firms put customer data at risk

National ID fraud event reveals lax corporate attitudes   More...

Virtualisation

Virtualisation set to drive SaaS adoption

Software-as-a-service delivery model was too costly before virtualisation   More...

Primary Navigation