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Case Law
Accusing an employer without evidence before a colleague justifies disciplinary dismissal
Publié le null - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
The existence of statements made by the employee about his employer, accusing him of having made statements whose veracity cannot be verified, is such as to justify a disciplinary dismissal.
This is what the Court of Cassation said in a judgment of the Social Chamber on June 15, 2022.
A female employee, who had made derogatory remarks against the managers of her business, was dismissed for gross misconduct. These comments accused the employer of using offensive language against him. She appealed to the judge to contest her dismissal.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the employee's motion. The reasons for the decision were that the dismissal was based on a real and serious cause. The employee thus breached her duty of loyalty to the employer by making derogatory remarks about her, even though they were made outside the time and place of work. The Court of Appeal also held that the nature of those remarks was such as to spread a bad image of the company and to cause unease within it.
The Court of Cassation rejected the employee's application because the comments she made outside the workplace were such as to justify her disciplinary dismissal (and a restriction on her freedom of expression) because they were defamatory.
The employee did not confirm that her employer had actually made any offensive remarks against her. The Court also upheld the breach of the duty of loyalty to the employer, despite the fact that the derogatory statements were made outside the professional context. Thus, the mere presence of a colleague during these remarks is enough to characterize the desire to give a bad image of the leadership and to create a malaise within the business.