“
This decision is important for my client, but also for France.
This Monday, October 11 in the morning, Master Rudyard Bessis speaks at the bar of the Administrative Court of Versailles on behalf of all the nursing staff suspended because not vaccinated. Before the summary judge, he pleaded for one of his clients, Christelle C., administrative assistant in the Nord-Essonne hospital group, who decided to file a request to contest his suspension. The objective of this morning: decide on the urgency and the need to suspend this decision. Because, as the lawyer points out from the outset, his client, a single mother, has been deprived of her salary of around 1,500 euros per month since September 15, and cannot provide for her needs and those of her child. "
It's a question of survival,
”emphasizes Maître Bessis.
Read also Covid-19: a hospital worker sues her suspension for non-vaccination
In the present case, but also in that of the thousands of other employees of hospitals, clinics and retirement homes - the ARS had 1,400 in Île-de-France on October 4, Olivier Véran 3,000 throughout France on September 16 -, Christelle C. is suspended indefinitely and without pay. A sanction that goes against the law, according to the lawyer, because usually, in case of fault, the employee can be suspended but still benefits from his salary. "
Here, we cut the food to a family
", protested Master Bessis, who wants this case to make a precedent. During his time at the bar, the lawyer for the Nord-Essonne hospital group replied that "
the applicant
is placed itself in these conditions "and that the judge of the summary proceedings must not"
not rule in its favor
”.
The reliability of the vaccine at the heart of the debates
For nearly an hour, the defense of Christelle C. worked hard to demonstrate the supposed inconsistency of the government's health policy. The lawyer for the hospital will also underline the absence of "
legal arguments
" in the pleadings of his colleague. Maître Bessis, for example, remembers the former government spokesperson, Sibeth Ndiaye, "
who did not know how to put on a mask
" and the Champions League match Lyon-Juventus Turin, which drained many supporters while the he epidemic was hitting Italy hard. "
Today, to make up for it, the government wants to impose vaccination on a part of the population
", regrets the lawyer, who defines the products of Pfizer and Moderna as a "
drug agent of uncertain effect
”.
Read also Vaccination obligation: should we fear a shortage of caregivers in hospitals and nursing homes?
He recalls that his client has never been reluctant to be administered the 11 compulsory vaccines, but that she does not trust a product "
partial, transitory and provisional
" which will not have final approval before "
2023 or 2025
”. “
My client does not want to suffer the consequences of this vaccine,
” he summarizes. Especially since Maître Bessis does not understand that vaccination is imposed in health centers, while it is not mandatory in the metro, buses and other places that stir people. "
The problem is that we went from the health pass to compulsory vaccination, when there was a possibility of leaving a margin of appreciation with the tests
",he justified.
A legal suspension?
In addition to the “
right to dispose of one's body
” and the “
right to work
”, Maître Bessis relies on the “
European Parliament regulations
” relating to vaccines, where it is stated that “
it is necessary to prevent any direct or indirect discrimination against people who do not wish to be vaccinated
”.
"
The European Parliament gives us a possibility not to be vaccinated
", argues the lawyer.
An argument swept away by his colleague, who "
refers to a recent judgment of the ECHR leaving States a wide margin of appreciation in matters of health protection
".
"
As soon as the measure of the vaccination obligation is taken, this objective is considered compatible and the ECHR only arbitrates the proportion
”.
Read also "They make us think that they have information that we do not have": these caregivers who discourage vaccination
The defense also recalls that "
the vaccination obligation relates only to a part of the population because the hospital staff is in a particular condition and that it aims to protect the most vulnerable
". For him, the Priority Constitutional Question (QPC) tabled by his colleague is also irrelevant. "
This is a targeted obligation and an adapted objective, so there is no doubt about constitutionality,
" he said. In addition, according to him, "
the Constitutional Council does not have to interfere in a debate which belongs only to the legislator
". And to recall the legal nature of the decision of the Nord-Essonne hospital group towards Christelle C.,"With
regard to the law of August 5, 2021
», On the vaccination obligation of caregivers.
"This kind of administrative decision is extremely violent"
If the judge's decision will not be rendered before Wednesday, the applicant was able to count on the support of a small committee when she left the hearing. On the pavement of the court of the administrative tribunal of Versailles, a dozen of her colleagues, mostly in the same case as her, were present to applaud her. In front of the press, Christelle C. explains that she hopes to "
return to [her] post
" at the end of the procedure. “
I felt something unfair,
” she testifies. “
When it suits us, we are asked to come to the hospital, when it does not work out anymore, we are beaten up.
The applicant regrets that the Nord-Essonne hospital group has not found an alternative solution. "
I offered to telework for the time of reflection, but I was told that the vaccination obligation included teleworking.
"
Same story with his colleague Anaïs, nurse in follow-up care and rehabilitation (SSR): “
There is no degree of reflection vis-à-vis the vaccine obligation. Whether we are in contact with patients, the public or visitors that is a public official who handles the household, cooking or administrative, this obligation is the same for everyone
, "says to the
BBC
that who is also suspended without pay. On the other hand, that one does not speak to her about the reasons for which she does not wish to be vaccinated: “
Today, we are here to speak about our employment contract, in which it is well stipulated that a suspension cannot be not be done without pay if it is not a disciplinary sanction
”.And to conclude, bitter: "
This kind of administrative decision is hyperviolent.
Not only do you not receive a salary, but you are still tied to the hospital, so you cannot claim any other work whatsoever
”.
