In the legal battle that has pitted him against his father’s partner for several years, the only son and guardian of perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain has just won an important victory. The Versailles Court of Appeal declared, in a judgment delivered on Thursday January 12, Kirsten Kragh Michelsen, known as Christina, guilty of moral harassment of a former domestic employee and of intentional violence against a vulnerable person, in this case Jean- Paul Guerlain, 86 years old and suffering from senile dementia. The Franco-Danoise, twenty-two years her junior and who lives in the property of the perfumer, was sentenced to four months in prison suspended, and to pay 3,000 euros in damages to Stéphane Guerlain, and 2,000 euros to Faouzia M., the domestic worker recognized as the victim of harassment.
The lawyer of Mme Kragh Michelsen, Me Frédéric Bélot, let it be known that he intended to appeal to the Court of Cassation. For his part, M.e Pascal Koerfer, avocat du fils Guerlain, shares this “satisfaction that things are a little recognized. It is important because for ten years Stéphane Guerlain has suffered the excesses of this lady (…). I hope it will bring some peace of mind for the end of Mr. Guerlain’s life. »
For a decade, in the heart of his imposing property in Mesnuls, a wealthy town in Yvelines on the edge of the Rambouillet forest, the existence of Jean-Paul Guerlain has nothing to envy. In 2013, as the perfumer’s mental health declined, the courts decided on a reinforced curatorship measure. His son was appointed curator for a period of sixty months. In January 2018, Stéphane Guerlain became guardian of his father, a measure “essential, considering the importance of its movable and real estate heritage”then considers justice.
“Intentional Abuse”
Above all, for about ten years Jean-Paul Guerlain has witnessed, helpless and sometimes unconscious, the conflict between his partner and his son. Christina Kragh Michelsen’s lawyers filed, in March 2020, a marriage file at the town hall of Les Mesnuls. Stéphane Guerlain, as tutor, opposed it and won his case. At the same time, companion and son accuse each other of all evils, including that of not caring about the well-being of the old man. Legal complaints are coming from each side, often to no avail. In June 2022, Stéphane Guerlain was tried, in his absence, for insults, death threats, intentional violence and moral harassment. He was released.
In this mishmash of reciprocal accusations, justice has therefore just tipped the scales in favor of the son. The Versailles Court of Appeal considers that the “repeated denigrating behavior shown by Kirsten Kragh Michelsen towards Faouzia M. to push her to the limit so that she stops taking care of Jean-Paul Guerlain” amounted to moral harassment. At first instance, in the fall of 2021, the Versailles Criminal Court had not sentenced Mme Kragh Michelsen on the grounds that the Franco-Danish was not the employer of Faouzia M., paid by Stéphane Guerlain.
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