Can we be in charge and responsible?

” To do the housework “ does not have the same meaning in a cleaning company and in a division where a new boss arrives. An IT director is fired for serious misconduct: “You have created a climate of tension and fear, with a clear desire to eliminate the old team in favor of employees hired by you, placing by your behavior M^me G. on the verge of depression”, justifies management. A cartoon of managerial harassmenta notion that is certainly vague in the country of subordination, but a disease that is hierarchically contagious when competition becomes fierce.

The IT director then takes legal action to challenge the seriousness of his fault, because it is “in close connection with his hierarchy that he led the reorganization “. Neither serious fault nor even, in this case, real and serious fault, affirms the Court of cassation on July 12, 2022. “Result of a managerial position shared and encouraged by all of his superiors, Mr. X’s behavior did not make it impossible for him to remain in the company », Specifies the judgment.

The company is ordered to pay 24,120 euros in notice, 30,000 euros in damages for unfounded dismissal and even 10,000 euros for the vexatious conditions of this rupture. It seems logical that an employer, responsible for the health and safety of his employees, cannot reproach a “fault” to a manager whose mistakes he has supported.

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This decision to sanction senior management playing Pontius Pilate seems more protective of management than that of March 8, 2017, where the HR manager of a store had been dismissed, because she had remained inactive while the director was creating “a climate of terror and humiliation”. The Court of Cassation had validated his dismissal, considering that“by endorsing the unacceptable managerial methods of the director with whom she worked very closely, and by letting them continue, Ms.^me X had breached its contractual obligations and endangered both the physical and mental health of the employees.. Easier said than done, when good soldiers are led by small leaders.

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But, beyond the disciplinary aspect, there are also very worrying civil and criminal responsibilities. Can the manager at fault be sued for damages by one of his fellow-victims, while the employer is civilly liable for his employees? “Even if they were committed in the interest, or even on the orders of the employer, these necessarily intentional acts engage the personal responsibility of the employee who is guilty of them with regard to his subordinates. » The decision of the social chamber of November 10, 2010 is unfortunately ignored by managers who blandly believed in: “Don’t worry: in case of a problem, we’ve got you covered!” » But such lawsuits are rare.

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