Blogging's latest martyr?

Jul 19 2006 by Brian Amble Print This Article

A PA fired by her employer in Paris for allegedly bringing them into disrepute with her Blog postings - even though she never mentioned the company she worked for - is fighting to set a legal precedent for wrongful dismissal in a French employment tribunal.

When the La Petite Anglaise blog began two years ago, it was described by its thirtysomething English author, Catherine Sanderson, as a "whim" offering a wry look at life as a PA and mother of a bilingual toddler in France.

But on 26 April this year, she was ended by a senior partner management at accountants Dixon Wilson, for gross misconduct.

Sanderson, who is claiming compensation of up to two years' pay, said: "It is really a matter of principle as far as I am concerned, in defining the boundaries between personal and professional activities, where the line should be drawn for bloggers who touch on the events of their working life in their writing."

The company in turn allege that she made herself, and therefore the firm, identifiable by including her photograph on the blog. They also accuse her of using office time to work on it.

Bu with at least two publishers said to be interested in a book version of the Blog, it could be that the whole sorry saga turns out to have been a blessing in disguise for Sanderson.

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