An order picker from La Redoute, near Lille, whose dismissal for having eaten a clementine near his workstation had been validated by the industrial tribunal, won in appeal.
The social chamber of the Douai Court of Appeal, in its decision of May 28, annulled the sanction, deeming it "
disproportionate in view of the facts with which it is accused, since no other sanction had been imposed on it and that he has a seniority dating back to September 2004
”.
To read also: La Redoute: laid off for having eaten a clementine at his post, an employee disputes
It recognizes that the employee, also CGT delegate, "
did not respect the instructions given to him by his hierarchical managers in terms of hygiene, that the facts are true and that the sanction was legitimate
".
"
However, the internal regulations provide for a scale of sanctions showing the disciplinary dismissal in second position after the warning and just before the disciplinary transfer
", she adds, ordering the company to pay 77.53 euros in reminder salary and paid vacation.
Punish
On November 7, 2017, Smaïl Bella got up at 4:30 a.m. to take up her post at the Wattrelos logistics site at 6 a.m.
Around 9 am, he stepped back from his “
picking
” post - a place where employees lined up on a production line take the goods and scan them to send them to customers - to eat a clementine outside of break time, before to put the peelings near his post, which could deteriorate the articles, according to the management.
Spotted by the supervisor, he was laid off for one day.
Read also: With La Reboucle, La Redoute is going second hand
He had contested this sanction with the labor courts of Roubaix, which had ruled in favor of the management on November 15, 2019. The management stressed that the internal regulations prohibited any food at the workstation, and also recalled that Smaïl Bella had had a recall to order two months earlier, for having gone for sweets without warning.