Smith v Trafford Housing Trust [2012] EWHC 3221 (Ch)
High Court, Chancery Division, Briggs J, 16 November 2012
A claimant has successfully brought an action for breach of contract against his employer for breach of contract, arising out of his demotion following Facebook comments on his wall. A reasonable reader of the claimant’s Facebook wall page could not rationally conclude that the comments had been made in any relevant sense on the defendant’s behalf or that they would damage the defendant’s reputation.
Hugh Tomlinson QC (instructed by Aughton Ainsworth) for the claimant. Andrew Short QC (instructed by Devonshires Solicitors) for the Trust.
The claimant was employed as a housing manager by the defendant, which was a private housing trust. In February 2011, he placed a link on his Facebook page to a BBC news article about gay marriages in church, and added the comment “an equality too far”. On the same day one of his Facebook friends responded with the comment “Does this mean you don’t approve” to which he later responded:
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