What can done if I was fired but my ex-employer is still using my picture to promote its business?

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What can done if I was fired but my ex-employer is still using my picture to promote its business?

I was fired from a job of after 25 years of service. However, that’s all water under the bridge but on their website they have a logo picture of me and 2 other guys advertising their business.

Asked on March 5, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Virginia

Answers:

M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 8 years ago | Contributor

Your former employer can't use your picture, at least not without first having your consent. That is unless you at some point during your empoyment signed an agreement giving permission that it could use your image. If you did not, you could ask the ompany to stop and, if they fail to, you could bring a legal action iagainst it and obtain "injunctive relief" which would require it to stop using your picture. However, as for any sort of compensation, you most likely will not be able to receive any. Assuming that you are not a celebrity or other public figure (i.e. you are a private person), you probably have a claim for the commercial use of your likeness. However, compensation for in such a case is based on damages. In other words, how much it made by using your image or how much you would normally be paid for the right to use it. And for a non-celebrity, there really may be little/no money at stake which makes recovery effectively impossible.


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