France: Internal Investigation Reports are Not Always Sufficient Evidence to Justify Dismissals

Under French law, employers have a duty of care towards their employees. They must initiate an internal investigation in case any employee complaints of possible sexual harassment and/or sexist behaviour.

If, following such investigation, the company decides to dismiss the employee accused, the internal investigation report is admissible as evidence of the misconduct and grounds for the dismissal. However, it is up to the court to decide if such a report is sufficiently robust.

On 18 June 2025, the French Supreme Court considered that the standard of evidence was not met if certain witness statements, cited in the investigation report was based, were not produced unless the company could demonstrate a good reason.

In this case, the company had argued that they had only produced all or part of 5 witness statements out of the 14 people interviewed due to the employees’ request to remain anonymous. However, the French Supreme Court deemed this insufficient as the company could not prove that such employees had refused for their witness statements to be produced nor explained why the company could not produce anonymised versions of the witness statements.

Key Action Points for Human Resources and In-House Counsel

In the case of an internal investigation, ensure that you document employees’ wish to remain anonymous and more generally, seek legal advice before undertaking such investigations.