2023-07-05 17:14:14
The former MP and spokesperson for La République en Marche (LRM), Laetitia Avia, was sentenced on Wednesday July 5 to six months in prison suspended and two years of ineligibility for the moral harassment of four former assistants parliamentarians, according to information from Mediapartfor which The world got confirmation.
Ms. Avia, 37, who became a lawyer again after her defeat in the legislative elections in 2022, was, on the other hand, released from the proceedings concerning three other ex-collaborators.
The former elected official was also ordered to pay 2,000 euros to each of the four former parliamentary assistants and to reimburse their procedural costs.
During the trial, which took place in two stages, at the beginning of May and then on June 1, the public prosecutor had requested a one-year suspended prison sentence, a 10,000 euro fine and a five-year sentence of ineligibility against the former MP.
Former parliamentary assistants accused, in another article of Mediapart published in May 2020, the one who was then deputy of Paris of humiliations and abuse of power with regard to her collaborators. Sexist or homophobic remarks were also cited in her exchanges with members of her team, such as when she wrote in 2018, after the vote on an amendment for LGBT + rights: “We voted for the PD amendment”in a screenshot reproduced by Mediapart.
Read also: Laetitia Avia, MP and spokesperson for LRM, targeted by an investigation for “moral harassment”
“Verbal violence” and “aggressiveness”
The court dismissed ” a system “ harassing, but analyzed the situations on a case-by-case basis and retained moral harassment for four complainants, reports Mediapartwhich states that the court recognized “a dismissal” from Mrs Avia and “worse working conditions” tantamount to moral harassment.
Ms. Avia’s lawyer, Me Basile Ader, announced that he had ” obviously “ appealed, saying to himself ” confident “ on the outcome of a second trial. “The fact that the court did not retain a system of harassment but that it sorted out the employees who complained will allow us to apprehend the case before the Court of Appeal in a transparent manner with regard to the ‘accusation’did he declare.
Counsel for several civil parties, Me Maud Sobel, on the contrary, considered that “the clarity and seriousness of the facts (…) foreshadowed the sentencing decision”.
During the trial, the seven former employees, who did not all file a complaint, testified at length, describing the ” verbal violence “ et “aggressiveness” of their ex-boss, sometimes with remarks and nicknames about their origins.
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” Some [des collaborateurs] left, none ever complained of harassment. Almost all of them approached me after their departure, to ask me for advice, recommendations or simply to give me their news – far from the false picture depicted”had reacted Ms. Avia after the publication of the testimonies, denouncing “False Accusations” and an « manipulation ». “Snippets of private messages have been truncated, diverted and decontextualized”she added.
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