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“
Moqueries
”, “
permanent solicitations
”, “
pressures
” or even
“public humiliations
”.
The hearings of former employees by the police as well as a recent industrial tribunal judgment, subject to appeal, illustrate the portrait painted in
Figaro
by several people who worked with the founder of Alila, Hervé Legros.
That of an authoritarian man with brutal methods.
Placed in police custody and heard for two hours in January, the latter is the subject of a judicial investigation for acts of moral harassment and abuse of corporate assets.
No less than 16 complaints have to date been filed by former employees, according to our information, confirmed by the Lyon prosecutor's office.
The complainants have been heard for several months in this case initiated by the police station of the 3rd and 6th arrondissements, the Alila company being domiciled in the international city.
A file in which Me Alain Jakubowicz, lawyer for Hervé Legros, recalls that his client, obviously presumed innocent, was not indicted.
“Pressure everywhere”
The former employees of Hervé Legros and Alila describe in great detail a deleterious climate punctuated by the anger, legendary in the middle, of his strong man.
Dismissals on a whim too.
A hushed environment of Lyon real estate development where the meteoric rise of the just-forty-year-old thanks to the systematization of the sale in the future state of completion (Verfa) on behalf of HLM offices, fascinates and irritates.
The company founded in the early 2000s, by the man who drives a Ferrari and appreciates the dressing rooms of OL, achieved a turnover of 730 million euros in 2021. All with 130 employees only, like the pointed out during our investigation an actor in the sector for several decades not really tender with the character.
And point
“the rhythms and the workload”
within the company which displays a
“significant staff turnover”
.
“In the house and in the office, he created an almost anxiety-provoking climate
.
There was pressure everywhere
, ”describes
a former employee to
Figaro .
“He thinks he can afford anything because he makes a lot of money,”
adds another.
Incessant solicitations
A climate taken up in the grounds of the judgment rendered by the industrial tribunal of Lyon in the first instance last month.
Hervé Legros was ordered to pay nearly 45,000 euros in compensation to a former personal collaborator for “moral harassment”, “zero dismissal” as well as “salary reminders”.
The promoter's lawyers have appealed and are contesting its provisional execution.
“This judgment is the only one which condemns Hervé Legros for moral harassment
, assures Me Aline Jamen, who defends him to the prud'hommes.
In a calmer media context, another jurisdiction rejected the same type of accusations
.
The testimonies mentioned in this judgment evoke in any case the almost incessant solicitations of Hervé Legros and his companion to their domestic employees.
Former employees working at the Ecully residence describe
to Le Figaro
the messages starting at 6 a.m., and solicitations until 10 p.m. via a WhatsApp conversation, the Monday morning debriefings anxiously awaited and high demands in terms of cleanliness.
An availability that goes as far as escorting the family by jet to Paris for transit to the Maldives, according to the industrial tribunal file, or accompanying them for a week in Dubai.
Me Alain Jakubowicz, lawyer for Hervé Legros on the criminal side, evokes revenge and rumors of former employees who stayed for a few months.
"If we manage to get through the year, it's already not bad"
Difficult to stay longer in the service of Alila and her boss, objects the opposing party.
“He dismisses people by putting bogus faults on their backs
,” launches Me Thibault Geoffroy who notably defends the former employee who won his case at first instance.
The complaints from Alila's exes, like the testimonies that we have been able to collect, confirm a very high turnover.
"If we manage to get through the year, that's not bad
," said one of them.
The labor inspectorate asserted its duty of reserve, but according to our information it made several visits during the pandemic concerning compliance with health standards.
The police are also investigating working conditions during the covid period.
Conditions hitherto remained secret within the walls of the company, which has no staff representative, according to the CGT.
"We had come across deficiency reports
," said a former administrative employee.
Months after leaving Alila, she does not want to see her name revealed, like all the people interviewed, still fearing her former employer.