An employee claimed no less than 600,000 euros from her employer because of a forgotten detail. But the judge realized that this employee had lied…
Everything seemed to be going as planned for this employee, social law lawyer and industrial tribunal advisor, who had just signed a contractual termination with her employer. But one crucial detail was ignored and this employee ended up demanding the monumental sum of 600 000 euros to his former superior…
As a social law lawyer, with significant responsibilities, this woman was a protected employee. Concretely, this means that unlike an average employee, she would have had to follow a specific procedure, use a dedicated CERFA form and obtain authorization from the labor inspectorate for the conventional termination to be valid. But that day, the “classic” form was signed and no request for authorization was made.
A few weeks later, the lawyer then referred the matter to the industrial tribunal, asserting that the termination was not valid. And she didn’t stop there since she claimed nearly 600,000 euros in damages from her employer for this reason! Shocked, the employer defended himself and explained that the social law expert, who is familiar with the rules governing protected employees, knew what she was doing and that the procedural error was her fault.
The verdict fell in a recent judgment of the Versailles Court of Appeal, indicates the media Qiiro. The magistrates carefully analyzed the facts and it appeared that the employee had participated in numerous projects concerning protected employees, having completed forms herself, and that she was therefore perfectly familiar with the legislation.
The court then concluded that the employer’s consent was defective. By failing to report the obligation to follow the correct procedure, the employee deceived her employer. The conventional termination was therefore canceled… and produced the effects of a resignation. Not only was the employee unable to obtain the 600,000 euros she requested, but she had to return the sums already received as part of the contractual termination, i.e. nearly 55,000 euros.
Labor law specialists therefore advise employers to systematically check whether an employee is protected, i.e. whether they are an elected representative of the CSE, a union representative or an employee with an external mandate, such as an industrial tribunal, municipal, departmental or regional advisor… Checks which can avoid a lot of problems!
