In a recent case of 11 September 2024, the French Supreme Court judged that an employee’s dismissal for gross misconduct following an argument between her partner and her employer was unjustified.
The case involved an employee who was on her way to start her 5 a.m. shift and was walking through the company parking lot with her partner, a former employee. An argument broke out between her partner and the employer.
Following this incident, the employer decided to dismiss the employee for gross misconduct, arguing that she was accompanied by a former employee, who had been dismissed because of violence towards another manager, and so she was responsible for the argument between her current manager and her partner. The Court of Appeal confirmed this reasoning and ruled that the dismissal was justified.
However, the Supreme Court overturned the decision, emphasizing that a disciplinary dismissal requires misconduct directly attributable to the employee. In this case, the employee was legitimately at work, as she was about to start her shift at 5 a.m and the argument only involved her partner and the employer. Thus, the Court concluded that the employee committed no personal misconduct and therefore could not be dismissed for disciplinary reasons.
This decision aligns with established case law: disciplinary proceedings must be based on the employee’s own misconduct.
Employers should carefully assess the behavior of their employees before initiating dismissal for misconduct, to avoid legal risks.