In 2021, Le Point had revealed the strange conditions of the dismissal by France Télévisions of the former editor-in-chief of the sports department, Jean-François Laville. This 57-year-old man, who told his story in the book Viré, histoire d’un “social murder” at France.tv (Plon), has just won his case.
The public group led by Delphine Ernotte was condemned by the prud’hommes for having carried out a dismissal “without real and serious cause”. He will have to pay Jean-François Laville 150,000 euros in damages. Jean-François Laville intends to appeal this decision in order to obtain the “nullity” of the dismissal, his reinstatement, the payment of the months of wages since 2020 and in order to “wash” his honor.
The hearing before the prud’hommes was tough for France Télévisions. One of the judges challenged Marc Borten, a lawyer for the public group, with these remarks: “Teacher, I am a white man over 50, you don’t mind, I hope? »
In 2020, an internal investigation was carried out by the firm Interstys after accusations by Clémentine Sarlat, former co-presenter of Stade 2, against the sports department of France Télévisions, in an interview with the newspaper L’Équipe. She had denounced facts of “moral harassment” on the part of certain people from the sports department of the public group and told of going “to Stage 2 crying”. Jean-François Laville, then sports editor of France Télévisions in charge of coordinating the magazines, had been dismissed for slight negligence during the summer for acts of “harassment” and also “sexist and / or discriminatory comments”.
This is not the first sanction to the industrial tribunal of France Télévisions in this case. The group was already sentenced in March 2022 for the dismissal “without real and serious cause” of Stade 2 journalist Pierre-Étienne Léonard. The Paris industrial tribunal demanded that he pay him 45,000 euros in severance pay and 100,000 euros in damages for dismissal in July 2020 “pronounced under vexatious conditions”.