Florence Hardouin files a complaint against Noël Le Graët for “sexual and moral harassment”

2023-04-27 19:51:18

Florence Hardouin was heard “as a victim” on April 18 by investigators from the Brigade for the repression of delinquency against the person (BRDP) as part of the preliminary investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office for “sexual and moral harassment” targeting Noël Le Graët, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

At the end of this hearing, the former director general of the French Federation filed a complaint for moral and sexual harassment against the former boss of French football, said Me Margaux Matthieu, confirming to AFP information from the newspaper. The world. Florence Hardouin should be “heard again at the end of the investigation to discuss in more detail the dysfunctions of the FFF and the responsibility of its leaders”, added the lawyer, who did not wish to comment.

In office since 2013, Florence Hardouin was suspended on a precautionary basis for serious misconduct on January 11, following a federal executive committee which also recorded the withdrawal of Noël Le Graët. But the FFF finally waived the dismissal for serious misconduct. “She was dismissed for completely spurious reasons, in particular the fact of not having put in place the tools to fight against sexual harassment within the FFF”, indicated the lawyer at the end of March. The 56-year-old former leader immediately seized the Paris Labor Court to “obtain the nullity of her dismissal, as well as damages to repair the damage”, the sum of which would amount to 2, 5 million euros.

Florence Hardouin believes that her dismissal is linked to the remarks she had made the day before, during her hearing by the inspectors of the General Inspectorate for Education, Sport and Research (IGESR), who took place within the framework of the audit carried out by the Ministry of Sports. She would have denounced there the “demeaning, humiliating and sexist remarks of Noël Le Graët, insults of a sexist or sexual nature, repeated reflections on his physique, inappropriate and intimidating behavior often linked to excessive alcoholism, multiple invitations to dinner more than inappropriate and recurring questions about his intimate and private life”. These assertions have been denied by Noël Le Graët.

The FFF and Florence Hardouin are convened on June 1, according to Me Matthieu. In February, the lawyer had also seized the Defender of Rights, Claire Hédon, “to have the FFF’s obstruction of the whistleblower status” of her client noted.