Claim of a former bank employee for non-disclosure of her personal data to foreign authorities

Facts

The case concerns a claim by A., a former employee of Bank B. AG, against her former employer. A. requested the Labor Court of Zurich to prohibit Bank B. AG under threat of penalty from disclosing or making accessible to the U.S. Department of Justice or any other U.S. authority documents or information that identify or concern A.

The Labor Court and the High Court of the Canton of Zurich did not enter into the claim, as they classified the dispute as non-pecuniary. The Federal Supreme Court dismissed A.'s appeal, insofar as it entered into it.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court stated that non-pecuniary disputes from areas not mentioned in Art. 243 para. 2 CPC are generally to be dealt with in ordinary proceedings. The question of whether a dispute is pecuniary is not at the disposal of the parties and therefore cannot be answered solely on the basis of an agreement between the parties.

The Federal Supreme Court qualified A.'s claim as non-pecuniary. While claims not directed at a sum of money can under certain circumstances be classified as pecuniary if they ultimately and predominantly pursue an economic purpose, in the present case the idealistic, non-pecuniary aspects, such as the fear of being…