Elements covered by medical confidentiality may be used to characterize serious misconduct
Publié le 16 septembre 2022 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
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An employee working in the health sector may not rely on a breach of medical confidentiality to challenge his dismissal for serious misconduct. This is what the Court of Cassation said in a judgment of the Social Chamber on June 15, 2022.
A nurse was dismissed for serious misconduct by her employer. She had failed in several of her obligations, which resulted in the death of one patient. She appealed to the judge to contest her dismissal.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the employee's motion. In order to give reasons for its decision, the Court confirmed that there was serious misconduct in the present case justifying the dismissal. The employee is appealing to the Court of Cassation on the ground that the employer referred to a number of residents' medical files as a basis for her dismissal, which, in her view, is contrary to the principle of medical confidentiality.
The Court of Cassation dismisses his appeal and recalls that medical confidentiality is established in the interests of patients. The employer was therefore justified in not respecting this principle. It consulted data covered by medical confidentiality in order to be able to identify the existence of serious misconduct having had consequences for the health of patients.
