EDF ordered to pay more than 300,000 euros in compensation after the dismissal of an executive from the Chooz nuclear power plant

Justice ruled in favor of the ex-employee. The Paris industrial tribunal ordered EDF to pay 250,000 euros in compensation to a former executive at the Chooz power plant who had been automatically retired after denouncing acts of moral harassment, according to a judgment dated January 30 consulted by AFP.

The industrial tribunal thus ruled that “the automatic retirement of Mr. Begin”, equivalent to “a serious fault”, is “unfounded and reclassifies it as a void dismissal”.

In his decision, he ordered the electrician group to pay him 250,000 euros “as compensation for invalid dismissal”, as well as more than 68,000 euros in various compensation for paid leave and end of contract.

Pressures and job changes

The former executive, hired in 1998 at EDF, believed “to have been harassed, sidelined and finally automatically retired because he had been asked by his hierarchy in April 2017 and in the summer of 2018, to minimize deviations” in nuclear safety, reports the judgment.

The former employee had cited a series of pressures and job changes characterizing this harassment which, according to him, continued until his automatic retirement in March 2024.

For its part, EDF had highlighted “the faults and inadequacies” of its employee, emphasizing that it would “not allow itself to be impressed by false arguments”, reports the judgment.

Critical reports

As part of this conflict, the Reims Court of Appeal condemned EDF in November 2024 for moral harassment against its former employee, and granted its request for damages of 10,000 euros.

Consequently, the industrial tribunal considered that the facts of harassment against Arnaud Begin were established “at this stage of the dispute”, despite an appeal to the Court of Cassation.

Arnaud Begin, the company’s former nuclear safety inspector, believes that the harassment of which he was the victim is the consequence of safety reports on his part concerning the Dampierre (Loiret) power plants in 2017 and Tricastin (Drôme) in 2015 and 2018. When contacted, EDF management did not respond to requests from AFP.