The former president of the University of Tours Philippe Vendrix was sentenced Tuesday, January 24 on appeal to twelve months of suspended imprisonment for "moral harassment" of a former collaborator.
The Orleans Court of Appeal combined this conviction with "
a ban on directing any university institution for a period of five years
".
“Humiliating remarks”
Philippe Vendrix is found guilty of a series of acts of harassment committed between the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018 against his director general of services at the time Alain Botton and his director of communications Ghislain Bourdilleau.
In particular, he had harmed Mr. Botton, whom he nicknamed “
the matador
” or “
the gypsy
”, by putting him aside, excluding him from meetings and withdrawing his files.
Ghislain Bourdilleau had suffered similar treatment, Philippe Vendrix "
recurringly denigrating his work in public
", "
verbally attacking him
" and "
making humiliating remarks
" towards the one he nicknamed "
Gislaine
", writes the Court of Appeal in its judgment.
At first instance, Philippe Vendrix, who chaired the University of Tours from 2016 to 2020, was released in January 2022 by the Tours criminal court but the prosecution appealed.
He had at the time admitted to having had “ brutal
” but not “
hurtful
” remarks towards his collaborators
.
