DOES AN ACQUITTAL IN A CRIMINAL CASE CONCERNING MORAL HARASSMENT PREVENT ANY INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL ACTION?

Mr. [T] was hired on May 26, 2015 as an ambulance driver by the company [H].

On July 13, 2016, September 9, 2016 and September 30, 2016, the employer notified him of three disciplinary sanctions for refusing to clean and disinfect the company’s ambulance vehicles.

On December 8, 2016, he was dismissed for misconduct and appealed to the industrial tribunal to contest this measure and make various claims.

Initially, the criminal court acquitted Mr [H] and Ms [S], directors of the company [H], of the charges brought against them for moral harassment to the detriment of Mr [T] and another employee, holding that “the various elements mentioned are not sufficient to constitute harassment. Some of the behaviors and comments described are not proven, especially as the majority of employees were not heard. On the other hand, some of the employer’s behaviors appear understandable in the context, and in any case have more to do with poor personnel management or industrial tribunal litigation than with criminally punishable harassment.

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