According to information from L'Équipe, the Paris industrial tribunal decided to order the French Football Federation (FFF) to pay 10,000 euros in damages for acts of “sexual harassment” on a former employee.
The judges also condemned the FFF for "breaches of safety obligations".
The members of the board considered that there had indeed been "acts of sexual harassment by Mr. Marc Varin
(the financial director)
".
And that the Federation led by Noël Le Graët had failed in its obligations "of prevention and cessation of the facts".
Justice had dismissed the complaint
This decision follows a complaint filed with the Paris prosecutor's office in the fall of 2018 by a former employee on a fixed-term contract in the financial department.
It evoked facts of "sexual assault" and "sexual harassment" committed according to her by Marc Varin.
For lack of sufficient information, the complaint was dismissed without criminal prosecution.
After this affair, Florence Hardouin, the director general of the FFF, had sent “a call to order” to its financial director, and “anti-harassment” training had been set up within the institution.
The former employee then decided to bring her case to the Prud'hommes, who were able to rely on a report from the labor inspectorate more dependent than that of the justice system, which spoke in particular of "behavior largely exceeding the conventions governing relations between manager and subordinate by repeatedly using allusions, words and gestures of a sexual connotation ”and two forced kiss attempts, one of which had taken place in the presence of two witnesses.
When notified of this decision, the FFF intends to appeal.
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