EDF was convicted of moral harassment against a former executive of the Chooz power plant (Ardennes), according to a ruling from the Reims Court of Appeal dated Wednesday, November 20, of which AFP was informed this Thursday, November 21. The court of appeal “judge that Mr. Arnaud Begin has suffered moral harassment” and consequently orders EDF to pay it “the sum of 10,000 euros in damages for moral harm”according to the decision.
The executive, who had been rejected by the Charleville-Mézières industrial tribunal, cited around twenty facts characterizing, according to him, this moral harassment. Unequal treatment, derogatory remarks, office without telephone, without key, without cabinet for several months, absence of annual interview: the court did not accept all these facts but considered that some were “materially established” and therefore decided to condemn EDF.
Breach of employer's obligations
She also ruled that EDF had “failed in its security obligation” with regard to Arnaud Begin, following letters sent by the employee to human resources and alerts on his situation formulated by the
Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee (CHSCT). Arnaud Begin, former nuclear safety inspector of the company, believes that the harassment of which he was the victim is the consequence of safety reports on his part concerning the Dampierre (Loiret) power plants in 2017 and Tricastin (Drôme) in 2015 and 2018.
The former EDF executive welcomed the recognition of his damage, at the end of “four and a half years of proceedings, six years of harassment and one dismissal”dated March 2024, which he intends to challenge before the Paris industrial tribunal. Asked by AFP, EDF management did not wish to comment on this court decision.