A judgment of the Court of Cassation handed down in early November ruled in favor of an employee who refused to participate in the “aperitifs” organized within his company.
Do you stop going to office parties because they bore you? You do not subscribe to the excessive consumption of alcohol to which they encourage? Rest assured, your employer does not have the right to dismiss you for this reason, as ruled in early November by the Court of Cassation, the highest court of the French judicial order, in a judgment, noted by BFMTV.
At the origin of this case, Mr. T., recruited at Cubik Partners in 2011 as a senior consultant, before being promoted to director a few years later. In 2015, the framework of this specialized consulting firm ended up being made redundant for “professional incompetence“. In a letter, the management accuses him of not accepting the company’s policy and the sharing of values ”fun & prowhich reign there.
Mr. T. then decides to drag his employer to the industrial tribunal, considering these reasons unfounded. He denounces for his part seminars and weekend drinks “frequently generating excessive drinking of all participants, encouraged by the associates who made available very large quantities of alcohol“Relates the judgment of the Court of Cassation, which is based on the testimony of employees.
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“Humiliating practices”
This “aperitif culturealso manifests as “humiliating and intrusive practices in private life such as simulacra of sexual acts, the obligation to share one’s bed with another collaborator during seminars, the use of nicknames to designate people and posters in the offices of distorted and made-up photosalso lists the judgment.
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In this context, the Court of Cassation rules that Mr. T. used his freedom of expression, a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution, by refusing to adhere to the values ”fun & proof his company. She therefore pronounced the “nullity” of the dismissal and declared itself in favor of the reinstatement of Mr. T. to the position of senior consultant, in accordance with his request. Cubik Partners must also pay 3,000 euros to the person concerned. The case, referred to the Paris Court of Appeal, is not over: Mr. T. is still claiming compensation from Cubik Partners for 461,406 euros.