Failure by the employee to clearly accept a disciplinary sanction shall be deemed a refusal

An employer offers his employee a disciplinary demotion, involving the modification of his employment contract. The employee informs his employer that he accepts this proposal but opposes the classification of this measure as a disciplinary measure. Following this refusal, the employer dismissed the employee for serious misconduct. He therefore brought an action before the judge challenging his dismissal.

The Court of Appeal dismissed his application and considered that, by accepting his demotion while questioning the fact that this measure was classified as a disciplinary measure, the employee gave an ambiguous response to the employer’s proposal. That reply was therefore to be seen as a refusal of the measure enabling the employer to impose a new penalty. The employee appeals to the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation upholds the appeal judgment on this point. It considers that the terms used by the employee in his letter of acceptance were ambiguous and therefore characterized a refusal of his sanction. Thus, the employer was entitled to impose another penalty, including dismissal for gross misconduct.

Consequently, if the employee does not clearly and unequivocally accept the penalty by amending his contract of employment, his reply will constitute a refusal of the measurement. The employer will therefore be able to impose another penalty, including dismissal.