The directors of a theater in Stains (Seine-Saint-Denis), whose threatening remarks were recorded, were sentenced Friday to one year of suspended imprisonment by the Bobigny criminal court for having dismissed an actress after the announcement of her pregnancy. The ban on exercising a managerial activity, requested at the hearing on June 2, was not upheld.
Employed since 2013, the young woman was first responsible for reception and communication before leading theater workshops from 2018 and then appearing in plays. The Stains Theater Studio, “it was my life”, she said at the bar in a sob, recounting being there “morning, noon and evening”.
“He thought he was going to silence me”
After announcing her pregnancy in June 2020, she was stripped of opportunities to perform in plays, including those already scheduled. She continued sick leave, was declared unfit by an occupational doctor and then dismissed in 2021.
In her exchanges with the director and the artistic director, discreetly recorded, several verbal attacks stand out: “You have decided to no longer be an actress, you have decided to be pregnant”, “you would not be pregnant, you would be in the process of to play”, “you are at the limit that I release you”.
“He thought he was going to shut me up, that I wasn’t going to say anything. That’s why I recorded, because no one was going to believe me,” said the woman who is now enrolled in theater school.
“The sentences I said went far beyond my thoughts. I was in a very heavy mental and professional situation. I regretted them immediately,” explained the director, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is particularly harsh for the artistic community.
Pregnancy, a still important reason for discrimination
According to management, tensions with the actress arose after confinement due to her lack of investment. Above all, they pointed out, the complainant had already been pregnant before without this causing any problem. According to the person concerned, this was because she was not in an acting position at the time.
“They are devastated by the court decision. The sentence of twelve months is a shock,” declared the defendants’ lawyer, Me Laurence Cambonie, at the end of the hearing.
For the civil party’s lawyer, Me Maude Beckers, it is on the other hand a “satisfactory decision”. “These are cases that are rarely brought by women before the courts,” she stressed.
In 2022, Rights Defender Claire Hédon was alarmed by the excessive number of pregnant employees discriminated against. The previous year, out of 7,000 referrals received for cases of discrimination, 3.2% “had pregnancy as the reason”.