Rights in case of dismissal after social media affair

Questioner

Dear, For convenience I will call the persons Henkie (victim) and Bert (co-perpetrator) Suppose that Henkie (for convenience) in his puberty (2010-2012) at the age of 15/16 posted some things on social media (which is actually unacceptable) and now at the age of 23 signs a contract with a major employer, and a certain Bert thinks it's fun to bring up his past, and also passes it on to his new employer, in the hope that Henkie will be fired, and will also be blackened, and will probably not get another job so quickly, because many things from his past have now been brought up in 2017 and can now be found on social media again in 2017. (bringing up old history) Can an employer terminate the contract immediately, given that it is quite old, Henkie himself had already indicated that he had said some things in the past that were not really acceptable, and the employer had not asked for permission to check his social media? Can Bert be entitled to compensation for loss of income?

Lawyer

If 'the old cows' are not work-related, the employer may not terminate an employment contract on those grounds. If and to the extent that the employment contract is nevertheless terminated, which decision can then be contested in court, and damage has been or will be suffered, Bert can be held liable for this. I do not know all the facts and circumstances of this case, so I cannot provide more detailed advice.

Questioner

Thanks for the response, It concerned an appointed E-Sports player, who was put in a bad light, largely thanks to 'Bert', (his tweets were often retweeted) after which the club management became aware of this, and therefore decided to terminate the contract, because 'Henkie' had allegedly kept quiet about it, while he had simply clearly stated in an interview 'I used to post some things that weren't very smart, I was in puberty and then you sometimes do stupid things, which I certainly regret now' And about 'Bert', he thought it was funny to send out about 40 tweets in one day, in which 'Henkie' was ridiculed/blackened, which led to his dismissal. The club management had therefore decided to terminate the contract in response to these tweets, which according to someone else is not a legally valid reason to fire someone, and is not allowed to do so because they are not allowed to look at his social media behaviour without permission.

Lawyer

As written, I am of the opinion that the person could not have been fired. If it turns out that the club management used the tweets posted by Bert as grounds for dismissal, Bert can be held liable.