“The labor inspectorate has just rejected Le Canard enchaîné’s request for authorization for my dismissal,” Christophe Nobili told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, May 17. Contacted by AFP, the deputy general manager of Le Canard, Nicolas Brimo, confirmed having received the decision of the labor inspectorate and indicated that the newspaper did not wish to comment.
The journalist said he was “happy” with the decision of the labor inspectorate, considering that the decision to dismiss him was “brutal, unfair and abusive”. The dismissal of Mr. Nobili had been initiated by the administration committee of the newspaper in early April, marking an escalation in the crisis which has shaken the centenary weekly for several months.
In May 2022, Christophe Nobili had filed a complaint against X after revealing that the companion of a former cartoonist and administrator of Le Canard, André Escaro, had benefited for twenty-five years from remuneration from the newspaper without having worked there. An investigation had been opened for “abuse of corporate assets” and “concealment of abuse of corporate assets”.
Appealable decision
On March 8, 2023, he released the book Cher Canard (JC Lattès editions), in which he returned to this affair which revealed fractures within the editorial staff, against a background of conflict between generations. After that, the newspaper’s administration committee decided to lay him off and initiate a dismissal procedure.
“This decision was made after the publication of his book, and his multiple statements to the press and other media,” the administrators wrote in an internal email to employees on April 2.
The decision of the labor inspectorate, dated May 15, is subject to appeal. But in the meantime, Le Canard enchaîné “is obliged to reinstate me and pay me my salary”, because this appeal “is not suspensive”, Mr. Nobili told AFP. According to him, the appeal can be filed within two months either before the administrative court or before the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt.
