They were found guilty of moral harassment of employees. Sentences of 4 to 8 months suspended prison sentence were pronounced this Thursday by the criminal court of Le Mans against four leaders of the transport company Jacky-Perennot. The defendants were however acquitted of the charge of manslaughter after the death of two employees. Their company is nevertheless found guilty of manslaughter concerning Pascal Le Jeune, a driver who committed suicide. She is also ordered to pay a fine of 80,000 euros. Leaders were also condemned to pay damages to the civil parties.
“All of this is not going to bring my husband back,” lamented the widow of Pascal Le Jeune, who however managed to have her husband’s suicide recognized as a work accident. “Pascal had character. He didn’t let himself be stepped on. As he opened his mouth, they gave him missions to m… (…) All these people are responsible, “said the widow about the leaders of the company. Another procedure is underway with the social affairs court for inexcusable fault on the part of the employer.
More than 40 complaints
In addition to Pascal Le Jeune who died at the age of 56, another driver of the group, which employs more than 9,000 employees and presents itself as a leader in transport for large retailers, had died at the age of 42 in 2018, in an accident following a sickness at the wheel. In both cases, these deaths were partly linked to the pace and working conditions imposed by the management of the Sarthe subsidiary of the group, Perrenot-Robineau, based in Soulitré near Le Mans, according to the investigation.
In this context, more than 40 employees or relatives of the alleged victims had filed a complaint for moral harassment between 2016 and 2021. They denounced in particular infernal speeds, tours modified at the last moment, “punishments” for those who did not respond to the framework imposed by the company.
“The drivers had become mere pawns, numbers. There was no social policy in the company. It was do or die,” said a former employee of the human resources department during the hearing. The leaders had explained that road transport was a “complicated job”, which sometimes forces drivers to leave in the morning without knowing when they will return to their base.