Harsh management that may harm subordinates' health qualifies as serious misconduct
An employee, the general manager of an organization, had harsh management practices with his subordinates. He, for instance, teared up an employee's work in public and issued sharp and contemptuous criticism, as well as orders and counter-orders with little regard for their work, such behaviour being likely to impress and harm the employees’ health. He was dismissed by the organization that employed him for serious misconduct, but the Court of Appeal, while recognizing the existence of a real and serious cause for dismissal, considered that the misconduct was not such as the employee’s presence within the company’s workforce was impossible, given he had performed his duties for more than 5 years (the test for serious misconduct under French labour law is the impossibility to maintain the employee within the company’s workforce considering the grievances in question).
The French Supreme Court overturned the decision, criticizing the judges reasoning which took into account the employee's seniority in order to exclude serious misconduct on the director’s part. Quite to the contrary, it ruled that management practices likely to impress and harm employees’ health amount to serious misconduct that makes it impossible for the employee to remain within the company’s workforce.
Cass. soc., March 8th, 2023 n° 21-11.535 F-D
History
-
KEY RULINGS IN FRENCH LABOUR LAW: INTRA-GROUP TRANSFERS, NON-COMPETITION CLAUSES AND DUTY OF LOYALTY IN THE WORKPLACE
Published on : 30/07/2024 30 July Jul 07 2024Newsletter / Recent Case LawIn case of an intra-group transfer, the transfer must be materialized by a si...
-
Dismissal of an employee's refusal to adhere to the "fun and pro" culture of his employer ruled null and void | Transfer of professional emails to personal email | Employees’ travel time can be effective working time
Published on : 10/01/2023 10 January Jan 01 2023Newsletter / Recent Case LawDismissal of an employee refusing to adhere to the "fun and pro" culture of h...
-
Employee's setting of residence far away from workplace
Published on : 04/10/2022 04 October Oct 10 2022Newsletter / Recent Case LawFrench law provides for a legal duty to reimburse 50% of the employee’s subsc...
-
Drivers platforms: still complex!
Published on : 04/07/2022 04 July Jul 07 2022Newsletter / Recent Case LawTwo recent court decisions, one criminal, the other civil, discussed subordin...