it is not possible to choose your court, even in the event of overload

If an employee wishes to challenge his dismissal and finds that the legally competent court is overloaded, can he refer the matter to the neighboring industrial tribunal, whose judgment times are shorter?

Analysis of the Court of Cassation, 2^e civil chamber of October 3, 2024, appeal no. 22-14.853.

The facts

The employee of a company located in Courbevoie contests her dismissal before the industrial tribunal of Versailles. That of Nanterre is in principle competent, but it is overloaded and renders its judgments approximately 3 years after its referral. The employee asserts Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which proclaims the right to a judgment within a reasonable time, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which provides that labor disputes are resolved with particular speed. These provisions make it possible, according to her, to set aside the rules of the labor code establishing the geographical jurisdiction of industrial tribunals.