Stéphane Ruffier and AS Saint-Étienne, continuation of the legal battle. The Labour Court of Saint-Étienne ruled that the termination of the employment contract for "serious misconduct" of the former international goalkeeper was unfounded and ordered ASSE (L2) to pay him more than 850,000 euros in compensation.
This indemnity includes €609,000 that AS Saint-Étienne is ordered to pay to its former goalkeeper for this "early termination of the fixed-term contract". This sum rises to just over €850,000 with damages for harm related to the "disproportionate disciplinary sanction" that had been notified to him, as well as compensation related to the "cancelled layoffs" of the 2nd half of 2020 and paid leave.
The international goalkeeper (3 caps) was sacked at the end of 2020, six months before the end of his contract, following warnings and disciplinary sanctions for alleged insubordination. At the time, Ruffier had been the goalkeeper of Saint-Étienne, who had been playing in Ligue 1, for almost a decade (383 games played).
The club "takes note", without appealing?
"This is a very good decision that recognises the disproportionate disciplinary sanctions and the dismissal for serious misconduct," the player's lawyer told AFP. During the hearing, Dorothée Bisaccia-Bernstein denounced the employer's desire to "isolate" Ruffier until the termination of his employment contract. It had claimed a total of more than €7 million in compensation.
The lawyer had referred to a "long period of moral harassment by coach Claude Puel and general manager Xavier Thuilot, who had the mission of trimming the wage bill and firing the players who cost the most". For her, Stéphane Ruffier was subjected to "a demolition company", "a campaign of undermining" and he "ended up quitting football after being smashed in the face".
"The club has taken note of the decision rendered by the labor court and is waiting to receive notification before considering the next steps," the ASSE counsel told AFP.
Olivier Martin, the club's lawyer, responded to the hearing by accusing the goalkeeper, who has been named "best goalkeeper in Ligue 1" on several occasions, of having abused his status as a darling of ASSE supporters. He had spoken of "refractory behaviour in complete opposition to the coach's directives from February 2020", claiming that he was "deliberately late for training to show who (...) is the boss."
"It was Stéphane Ruffier who sparked the controversy with a press campaign led by his agent Patrick Glanz aimed at denouncing the ASSE. Because, from the height of his ego, he couldn't stand being a substitute during a match," he said.