In 2020, a young woman is recruited as a sales administrator at Veynat, a company transporting liquids and agri-food products whose headquarters is located in Tresses, in Gironde. According to her lawyer Marion Stéphan, she will discover a deleterious atmosphere there. Mad Men where sexist remarks and inappropriate behavior from male employees are part of the daily lives of female employees.
She is today on the bench of civil parties, in the trial of four defendants, executives of Veynat, which opens this Thursday before the criminal court, for sexual harassment, sexual assault and intentional injury. “We are talking about a small number of men in management positions, a real boy band, even if they are not necessarily the victims’ hierarchical superiors,” specifies the lawyer.
Harassed then “banned”?
Recipient of emails of a sexist and sexual nature, she also has to endure “animal noises” shouted as she passes in the corridors, details her advice. The women of the company talk a lot among themselves about inappropriate gestures, lewd glances or obscene remarks but her client is the first to denounce the facts in a written and explicit manner, to the director of human resources. “We would like to clarify that numerous testimonies in the file contradict the climate described within the company by the complainant you cite,” underlines the Veynat company to 20 minutes, through his consulting firm. The media treatment of the case so far does not reflect the testimonies of women (more than fifteen) who say they live well at Veynat. »
After the young woman was reported to human resources on May 17, 2021, the Veynat company ensured that “a sanction was taken on June 11”. She adds that “the reaction of the company was immediate and firm” for the facts of which it became aware, mentioning in particular the inappropriate actions of an employee reported on April 30, 2021 by a service provider of the company, which were sanctioned on May 4. According to the employee, now a civil party, she was asked to confront her harasser and isolate herself. “An internal investigation should have been opened,” says his lawyer.
In the company’s offices, her report quickly became known and she found herself “treated as a slut” and “banned”. After her doctor placed her on sick leave, she ended up being hospitalized in a depressed state. “The psychiatric expert who examines him then requires one month of ITT [incapacité totale de travail] », points out Master Marion Stéphan. The prosecution for “intentional injuries” corresponds to the prosecution’s view of a lack of protection for the employee after her testimony. She files a complaint in March 2022 and hopes to obtain damages before the criminal court. A part of the affair will also be played out before the Industrial Tribunal.
“No tolerance for sexism at Veynat”
The manager and the Veynat company are being prosecuted for “breach of an obligation of safety and prudence”, in short for not having put in place the conditions for preventing the facts. “With regard to prevention, we deny with the greatest firmness that we have failed to fulfill any obligation whatsoever on these subjects,” comments Veynat. We have always respected the law, and we have even gone further, by implementing gender equality plans when nothing required us to do so. »
Listening to the civil party’s lawyer, management and executive positions are mainly male and those in the secretariat and assistance are predominantly female. “We went from 21% women in 2014 to 57.5% to date, for positions excluding transport,” Veynat defends. Today we have seven women among the company’s 17 managers. » But on these seven positions, “there is no delegation of signature or delegation of power,” retorts Master Marion Stéphan. Certainly these are important positions but which are not valued within society as it is organized. »
Although several testimonies were collected during this preliminary investigation, few women filed complaints. “Some of them did not want to become civil parties, even if reading the minutes we can only think that they are victims of the same facts,” believes Maître Marion Stéphan. For one of the employees, the prosecution took matters of harassment into its own hands, which the defendant describes as “heavy flirting”; for another, who found herself stuck against a door, he also took matters into his own hands. , this time for acts of sexual assault.
The hearing will have to determine whether the investigation reveals isolated cases or structural dysfunctions in the professional relations of this company. There is “no tolerance for sexism at Veynat”, the company anticipates.