2023-05-03 17:29:44
“This judgment is above all a relief for UCLouvain“: This is the statement made by the rector of the university, Vincent Blondel, this Wednesday followingnoon!
Vincent Blondel made this comment the day following the judgment (on appeal) rendered by the Brussels Labor Court, in the case of Professor Caroline Nieberding.
As a reminder, at first instance, last October, the Walloon Brabant Labor Court had nevertheless followed the arguments of the bio teacher. Caroline Nieberding felt she was the victim of violence because of her gender, as well as harassment at work. She criticized UCLouvain, her employer, for a lack of reaction to the facts she denounced.
On appeal, the court therefore cleared UCLouvain. For the rector Vincent Blondel, “This is not a victory! It’s a relief to see that the court nevertheless ruled in favor of the university in a difficult context! This judgment recognizes that there was no form of harassment or violence at work, but rather an interpersonal conflict as there are many in different parts of the company. It is an interpersonal conflict within a work team. On this basis, the court considers that all of the plaintiff’s claims are unfounded. The court also recognizes that the university took the plaintiff’s grievances very seriously and that the university implemented a whole series of important measures over many months; Measures that are both appropriate and necessary to try to resolve this conflict between people“.
As we specified yesterday (see link to the article below), the only recourse available at this stage to Professor Caroline Nieberding, if she wishes, is an appeal in cassation. We sought a comment from his council on Wednesday, but to no avail.
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