Court of cassation, Social Division, 13 May 2026, No. 24-17.951, published in the Bulletin
In a judgment dated 13 May 2026, the French Cour de cassation clarified the scope of the eviction compensation payable to a protected employee dismissed without prior administrative authorisation, where their reinstatement, requested after the expiry of the protection period, becomes impossible.
In this case, an employee, who had been elected as a staff representative, had been dismissed without authorisation from the labour inspectorate.
However, following the dismissal, the employee went to the company’s premises, where he behaved in a verbally and physically aggressive manner towards the HR Director. Serious damage was subsequently caused within the company. The Court of Appeal held that this made the employee’s reinstatement impossible, as it was incompatible with the employer’s health and safety obligation.
The Cour de cassation recalled that a protected employee dismissed without prior authorisation who requests reinstatement during the protection period is entitled to compensation equal to the wages he would have received between his dismissal and his reinstatement. This compensation is also due where the request for reinstatement is made after the expiry of the protection period, for reasons not attributable to the employee.
However, in the latter case, “an employee whose wrongful conduct makes reinstatement impossible is entitled, for breach of protected status, only to the wages he would have received from the date of his eviction until the date of the events preventing his reinstatement.”
In other words, the employee could only claim the wages he would have received up to the date of the violent acts and damage.
Thus: