Court orders ex-worker to change ‘false’ LinkedIn profile

The owner of a Pretoria auction house regarded a former employee’s apparent refusal to change his LinkedIn profile in such a serious light that he obtained a high court order against the man.

The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ordered estate agent Willie van der Schyff to remove details of his former employer, Daniel Crous Auctioneers, from his Linked-In profile and to rectify his profile. He was also ordered to pay the costs of the application launched by his former employer.

Property auctioneer Daniel Crous said in court papers Van der Schyff, 57, had worked for his auction house as an estate agent between February 2013 and February 2014, when he resigned.

Van der Schyff resigned in the light of allegations of contract breach by both parties, resulting in a breach of trust.

After Van der Schyff’s resignation, it came to Crous’ attention that his former employee was still creating the impression on his Linked-In profile that he was an estate agent working for Crous’ auction house.

Despite demands that Van der Schyff must change the information, he failed to take any action. Crous said his former employee was creating a false impression and the misrepresentation that he was still an estate agent at the auction house could cause serious harm to their image.

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.