Get All Access for $5/mo

The Highest Court in France Says You Don't Have to Be 'Fun' At Work A French man said he was fired for not wanting to take place in activities the company called "fun," including drinking and sharing a bed with employees, his team said in court documents.

By Gabrielle Bienasz

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Frédéric Soltan I Getty Images
The Court of Cassation in Paris.

You can't be fired because a company doesn't think you're "fun" enough.

At least, that's according to France's highest court, The Court of Cassation, which ruled earlier this month that a man who was fired for not wanting to participate in certain company activities billed as part of their "fun" culture was wrongfully terminated, according to The Washington Post.

The man's legal team said their client wasn't seen as "fun" because he refused to engage in corporate events with large amounts of drinking. The man also claimed a work culture where people did activities such as miming sexual acts, sharing beds with other employees at work events, and giving people uncouth nicknames, per the outlet.

A Google translation of the court documents characterized these acts as "practices advocated by the associates linking promiscuity, bullying, and incitement to various excesses."

The decision says the man was fired in March 2015 for not embracing the company's "fun" culture (calling it "professional incompetence,") as well as being more rigid of personality, the documents claim.

The company in question is Cubik Partners, a management consulting firm.

France is known for its pro-employee labor laws and well-known jokes about how it's impossible to get fired there. That is also generally true for other countries in Europe, including Ireland, where Elon Musk's Twitter has already faced a temporary injunction for firing an executive based there.

In this case, the court ruled that firing an employee for not doing the activities in question constituted a violation of "his freedom of expression," and that it is a "fundamental freedom" to not engage in some sort of social activity.

The fired employee had asked for over $400,000 USD in damages, which the Paris Court of Appeals rejected last year. This ruling turned over that court's rejection in part, ordered the company to give the former employee $3,000 euros, and said it would look at his demand for damages at some point in the future, per Insider.

Cubik Partners, in a statement to Entrepreneur via email, pushed back against the allegations that it had fired the employee for not participating in social activities and pointed to the legal win it had in the Paris Court.

"This employee was obviously not dismissed because he refused to share a so-called 'aperitif culture' and to participate in conviviality moments organized by the company," a spokesperson wrote in a statement.

The fired employee was, "definitely not an easy person to work with. Many employees, as well as customers, asked us not to work with him anymore," and because he didn't have any other clients, "we had to lay him off," they added.

Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Side Hustle

'Hustling Every Day': These Friends Started a Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'Snowballed' to Over $500,000 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Brand

Paris Emily Nicholson and Saskia Teje Jenkins had a 2020 brainstorm session that led to a lucrative business.

Business News

Meta Makes $1 Million Dollar Donation to Donald Trump's Inaugural Fund

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly gave Trump a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Leadership

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 8 Key Points to Navigate the Founder's Dilemma

Here are eight key signs that help founders determine whether to persevere or let go.

Starting a Business

They Bought an Ice Cream Truck Off eBay for $5,000. Now Their Company Has 70 Shops and Sells Treats in Over 12,000 Stores.

For the episode of "The Founder CEO," the co-founder and CEO of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream explains how one ice cream truck grew into a successful nationwide brand.

Marketing

Your Most Powerful Marketing Weapon Is Hiding in the Finance Department — Here's Why

Transform your marketing leadership by turning finance from a barrier into a strategic ally. Learn how aligning with your finance team can drive unprecedented growth and innovation.