France’s highest court has ruled that an employee cannot be fired for not attending regular company after-hours parties involving heavy drinking and other debauchery. The Parisian consulting firm, for which the plaintiff worked, violated the employee’s right to freedom of expression with its “Fun and Pro” corporate culture, the Court of Cassation in Paris ruled.
termination ineffective
It declared the termination, for which the company had put forward other reasons, to be invalid. The company failed to mandate end-of-week seminars and parties where the provision of large quantities of alcohol encouraged excess and encouraged bullying, lapses and indiscriminate sex, the court found. The Senior Consultant had seen his human dignity and respect for private life violated by a corporate culture that humiliated his privacy.
“You have to have fun at work, and our customers love it,” said the company’s website in general about the company culture. It is about a strong mental flexibility and an unshakable solidarity within the team and towards the customers. Employees should be independent, dynamic and passionate.