Justice in face of deluge of complaints around Orpea

The group is the subject of several preliminary surveys, following complaints from families of residents but also of a report of the State.

by Samuel Laurent

A year after the release of the book-investigation (Les Fossoyeurs, Fayard) of Victor Castanet, who denounced the serious dysfunctions of the giant of retirement homes, Orpea is far from having finished with the judicial consequences of these revelations.

Justice has already passed for a few files, most of them before the scandal bursts. In June 2022, the group was convicted of negligence, following the death of a resident in 2017, and was to pay 65,000 euros in damages to the son of this elderly person. Another grievance was tried in September 2022: the CGT had seized justice to denounce the discrimination practiced by the company, which benefited the union “house”, arc-en-ciel. The Puteaux proximity court (Hauts-de-Seine) agreed with the CGT, announcing the litigious professional elections.

Another survey is still underway in Nanterre for discrimination against union representatives. A second, entrusted to the Central Office to Combat Illegal Work, relates to the abusive use of fixed -term contracts. The Nanterre prosecution is also seized by the State, under article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Following the joint reports of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs and the General Inspectorate of Finance, the prosecution is investigating suspicions of embezzlement from the giant of retirement homes, suspected of assemblies intended to maximize The amount of the aid he touched.

the former CEO

But the most publicized investigation concerns mistreatment within Orpea establishments, the subject of dozens of complaints filed throughout France. The Nanterre prosecution thus deals with fifty-three complaints of individuals. This component and suspicion of embezzlement justified the searches carried out in June and November 2022 at the headquarters of the EHPAD group and in several establishments. “The documents seized, in very large quantities, are still being operations by the gendarmerie survey services,” said the Nanterre prosecutor’s office.

The Orpea group also filed a complaint against X for “breach of trust” and “abuse of social goods”. He actually targets the former managing director Yves Le Masne, against whom the company filed a new complaint in late December. M. le Masne is also in the viewfinder of the national financial prosecution, seized of two investigations. One for tax fraud and money laundering dates from the beginning of 2021. A second was launched, in early 2022, for “initiate offense”: he is suspected of having given ways to the group, while he was aware of Mr. Castanet’s investigation and the repercussions it may have on the financial health of Orpea.

/Media reports cited above.