A French employee won the legal right "to be boring" at work, After his employer fired him for refusing to participate in 'after work drinks’.
After a court determined that his employer was unjust to fire him because he didn't go out for drinks with his coworkers frequently enough, a French man has won the "right to be boring" at work.
The man, known only as Mr. T, reportedly worked as a senior adviser for Cubik Partners, a consulting company in Paris, France, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.
The management consulting firm contended to use a "fun" approach to team development, but Mr T disagreed with their understanding of the term of fun, which apparently included going out for drinks every week.
Mr T was fired in 2015 for "professional inadequacy" after refusing to participate in after-work drinks & team building activities. The company also accused him of being boring, difficult to work with, and a bad listener.
Mr. T claimed in his case that he was entitled to "critical behaviour and to refuse firm policy based on enticement to indulge in numerous excesses" and that he disagreed with the definition of "fun" used by the corporation..”
The Court of Cassation in Paris agreed with him. In the seven-year-long legal case, the court ordered Mr T's former employers to pay him £2,574 (Rs 2.5 lakh).
The court ruled earlier this month that no one could be forced to "forcibly participate in seminars and end-of-week drinks frequently ending in excessive alcohol consumption, urged by colleagues who made very huge quantities of liquor available."
According to the court, the employee's "basic right to self respect & dignity for private life" was violated by the company's reliance on social gatherings and "fun."
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