France: The French Supreme Court Recognises for the First Time the Concept of “institutional harassment”
In a ruling dated 21st January 2025, the Criminal section of the French Supreme Court retained that a company policy, implemented with full knowledge of the facts, which aimed or resulted in the deterioration of all or some of the employees’ working conditions constitutes “institutional harassment,” which can lead to criminal sanctions for the company’s legal representatives.
This ruling of the French Supreme Court marks the end of legal action brought in 2009 by a trade union against the former CEO of France Telecom (renamed Orange) following 30 suicides and attempted suicides by staff which the trade union argued was related to the methods used by the company to cut 22,000 jobs and relocate over 10,000 employees.
The French Supreme Court ruled that article 222-33-2 of the French Criminal Code could be considered to form the basis of this offence and that such interpretation was not unforeseeable. The fact that a policy was adopted that contained multiple disorganised reorganisations, incentives to leave the company, forced geographical and/or functional mobility, excessive and intrusive control, lack of appropriate HR support, inadequate training, isolation of staff and intimidation and that the defendants was aware that such policy could result in a deterioration in working conditions for staff was sufficient to answer the requirements of the material and intentional requirements of the offence without requiring the defendants to have targeted specific individuals.
Such policy was considered to exceed the CEO’s normal management powers.
Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel
The key takeaway of this case is that employers need to be vigilant regarding the implementation methods of their organisational strategies, particularly during periods of restructuring.
