Does the assault of a colleague make it impossible to keep the employee in the company?

Even if an employee received a punch from his colleague the same day, his response a few hours later at the company's premises can be a grave misconduct.

An employee hired on October 26, 2007, as a multi-service self-employed employee, was laid off on 1^er June 2015 and dismissed for serious misconduct by letter of 25 June.

In fact, during an interview, in the presence of his hierarchical superior, intended to come back to an altercation that had occurred a few hours earlier during which the employee had received a punch from his colleague, he assaults her and assaults her several times.

Following his dismissal, the employee brought an action before the labor court. He considers that the prior assault to which he had been subjected is a specific circumstance which his employer must take into account when imposing his penalty. In addition, he has not experienced any further behavioral discrepancies in his eight years of service.

The Conseil de prud'hommes initially considered that these elements were such as to exclude serious misconduct. A grave misconduct arises from a fact or set of facts which constitute a breach of the employee's obligations of such importance that they make it impossible for the employee to remain in the company.

The Court of Appeal disagrees: the two altercations are not concurrent. They were held at intervals of a few hours and in a different context. Therefore, the beatings by the employee constitute serious misconduct.

The Court of Cassation confirms the judgment of the Court of Appeal: the dismissal for serious misconduct is well founded.