In a decision dated 10 December 2025 (No. 24-15.412), the French Supreme Court provided important clarification on the notion of harassment, holding that harassment from Management may be established even where the employee was not personally targeted.
Facts
An employee, dismissed on grounds of unfitness, claimed that she had been subjected to managerial harassment and raised additional arguments seeking to have her dismissal declared null and void before the Employment tribunal.
Ruling
With regard to the psychological harassment, the French supreme Court confirmed that management practices may, in themselves, constitute harassment, even in the absence of individual targeting.
Accordingly, the employee is not required to demonstrate that she was personally singled out through repeated acts towards him or herself. It is sufficient that the managerial practices in question, assessed towards the workforce as a whole, resulted in a deterioration of his/her working conditions.
Scope of the decision
This ruling confirms a broad interpretation of moral harassment by French Courts, extending it to general management practices without requiring proof of personal targeting, while maintaining the need for the employee to demonstrate the concrete impact of those practices on their individual situation.
It forms part of established case law (notably the “France Télécom” decisions recognizing “institutional harassment”), according to which harassment may arise from workplace organization or management methods affecting employees collectively, provided their effects are concretely experienced by a specific employee.
This expansive approach to moral harassment should prompt employers to exercise increased vigilance regarding management practices within the organization, failing which they may incur liability before Employment tribunals.
