The Court of Cassation has ruled in the river dispute between Canal+ and its ex-host Maïtena Biraben: the audiovisual group will have to pay more than 3.4 million euros gross in compensation for having dismissed her in 2016 without "real cause
and serious
”.
A judgment of the Court of Cassation, revealed on Tuesday by L'Informé and consulted by AFP, confirmed the essence of the decision of the Versailles Court of Appeal which had condemned the Canal+ group to pay the presenter nearly 3.5 million euros gross of miscellaneous indemnities in June 2021. This amount was revised slightly downwards after the cancellation of nearly 40,000 euros due for back pay.
The severance pay has also been recalculated, with around 1,400 euros less, to settle at 136,000 euros gross.
“
The fight for the essentials is over.
I am proud.
It marks a life
,” Maïtena Biraben told AFP.
Contacted by AFP, Canal+ declined to comment.
Dismissed for “serious misconduct”
The former presenter of the show "
Le grand Journal
" was dismissed in the summer of 2016 after a single season, then dismissed for "
serious misconduct
".
The latter had reacted by claiming 4 million euros from the chain before the industrial tribunal.
The body, considering his dismissal without "
Real and serious cause
", had condemned in September 2018 the Canal + group to pay him more than 3.4 million euros.
The subsidiary of the media giant Vivendi, piloted by the conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, had challenged this decision with the Versailles Court of Appeal, which had increased its sentence in June 2021.
