French worker sues company after being fired for not wanting to drink
Being labelled as boring by your colleagues is anything but a compliment...
Standing tall with your values and morals can be difficult in a work setting.
Mostly because of peer pressure. Surprisingly, we all assume that peer pressure will leave us when we reach adulthood, but quite the opposite.
This is what happened to a Frenchman who was allegedly fired for being boring and not wanting to partake in drinks with his colleagues.
The man, who goes by Mr. T (an alias of course), 'had worked as a senior advisor for the Paris-based consultancy firm Cubik Partners, which is notable for its “fun and pro” approach to work,' the Telegraph reported.
Mr. T was fired in 2015 on the basis of "professional inadequacy". Amongst other things, he was said to have failed to embody the "party" atmosphere that the company was trying to create.
"Redemption didn’t come until a whopping seven years later when the Parisian appeals court finally sided with Mr. T. The court ruled that it was the ex-staffer was exercising his “freedom of expression” by abstaining from the compulsory parties, which they linked to “promiscuity, bullying and incitement to get involved in various forms of excess and misconduct.” (NY Post)
Ironically, this is the opposite of what we all know of companies, where many people get fired for being party-centric.
According to the appeals court, the firm would force employees to “participate in seminars and end-of-week drinks frequently ending up in excessive alcohol intake, encouraged by associates who made very large quantities of alcohol available”. (NY Post)
Talk about a shift in priorities. Of course, we know the French to enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle but should there not be a line to everything?
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He was awarded $3,114 (€3,000/R54,189) and has since made a further appeal for another $478,789 (€461,000/R8.3-million), which the court will consider at a later date.
It's not uncommon for many companies to include the consumption of alcohol into their culture. It is seen as a welcomed thing for many workers, but not all workers are the same.
In this case, Mr. T wanted to do his work without conforming to a culture he was not comfortable in. Everyone has a right to that, don't you think?
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