Pierre Hinard, a former employee of the Castel Viandes group, dismissed after denouncing violations of health rules in a slaughterhouse in Châteaubriant (Loire-Atlantique) subsequently convicted by the courts for non-compliant practices, challenged his dismissal on Thursday on appeal before the industrial tribunal.
He was employed as quality manager by Castel Viandes when, in December 2008, he informed the veterinary services that the group was practicing “repackage”, in other words the recycling of spoiled meat from unsold products.
The same afternoon, Pierre Hinard was summoned by his management and laid off, before being the subject of a dismissal procedure a few days later for “professional insufficiency”, his lawyers recalled during a hearing. before the court of appeal in Rennes.
Also read: Maggots in steaks and falsified labels: the Castel Viandes slaughterhouse scandal before the courts
At first instance in 2019, the Nantes industrial tribunal judged that the procedure for dismissing the quality manager was compliant and the latter therefore appealed.
Eva Joly requests that he benefit from the protection granted by law to whistleblowers
“The fact that an employer suddenly finds that his employee has inadequacies after he has launched an alert is unfortunately common,” said Eva Joly on Thursday.
The former environmentalist MEP requests in particular that her client benefit from the protection granted by law to whistleblowers, considering that he meets all the criteria.
Spoiled beef at Castel Viandes: Pierre Hinard before the Industrial Court to be recognized as a whistleblowerhttps://t.co/goI6yDIHhP#Justice #Agroalimentaire @PierreHinard @EvaJoly pic.twitter.com/D14akyDQ3R
— France 3 Pays de la Loire (@F3PaysdelaLoire) February 15, 2024
Following denunciations made by Pierre Hinard to the gendarmerie in 2012, a judicial investigation was opened and resulted in a trial in Nantes in 2022. The criminal court sentenced the CEO of the Castel Viandes group, Joseph Viol, to six month suspended prison sentence and 10,000 euros fine for “deception regarding the quality of goods” and “placing on the market products of animal origin harmful to health”.
The company, which supplied groups such as McDonald's or Auchan, was fined 40,000 euros for the same charges.
The “indisputable proof” that Pierre Hinard had launched the alert
“With this judgment becoming final, we have confirmation that Pierre Hinard actually alerted the veterinary services”, an “indisputable proof” that the denunciation was well-founded and was “at the origin of his dismissal”, argued Me David Lemercier.
Also read: Spoiled meat: “They ruined my career”, confides the former employee of Castel Viandes who revealed the scandal
The lawyer for Castel Viandes, Me Marie-Pascale Vallais, refuted these arguments, ensuring that this dismissal was motivated solely by "deficiencies" and failings of the quality manager, who according to her had at no time alerted his management to possible health problems in the slaughterhouse.
“This is a case that would not have made headlines or filled courtrooms without the desire of Pierre Hinard to play the role of a white knight,” she said.
The Industrial Court of Appeal reserved its decision until April 10.
On the sidelines of the hearing, Pierre Hinard told AFP that he had filed a complaint last January against his ex-employer, whom he accuses of defamation and false testimony against him.
He cites in particular “totally invented accusations of sexual harassment” which he claims to have discovered by having access to the criminal file.
“They exploded my professional career,” said Pierre Hinard, who became an independent organic cattle breeder after his dismissal.