Employees who point out a threat to the general interest sometimes achieve their ends.
by Anne Rodier
Can a simple employee defend the general interest? This is the question posed by the story of Maureen Kearney, worthy of a spy novel, reported in the trade unionist, by Caroline Michel-Aguirre (Stock, 2019) and interpreted by Isabelle Huppert, in the film by Jean- Paul Salomé who comes out in theaters, this Wednesday 1 er mars. The former Secretary of the European Group Committee of Areva is the whistleblower who had denounced a contract providing for a massive transfer of technology to China.
“ window A whistleblower is a natural person who reports or discloses, without direct financial and good faith, information relating to a crime, an offense, a threat or damage to the general interest, a violation Or an attempt to conceal a violation of an international commitment regularly ratified or approved by France, a unilateral act of an international organization taken on the basis of such a commitment, of European Union law, law or regulation, “says the window Waserman law , adopted in 2022 to strengthen their protection. But does it have a real room for maneuver?
Listen to the testimonies of those who disclosed the tax evasion scandals in UBS, from Dépakine to Sanofi or that of Areva, pressures are considerable to reduce their power to act. “Several people had tried to stop in my role, until a few days before the assault. I intended to file a complaint for moral harassment, but I did not have time,” said Maureen Kearney.
In 2012, she was brutally attacked in her apartment, a few days after having passed the referral to the courts of her CEO, Luc Oursel, for non-consultation of the group committee on Areva’s strategy. At the time, whistleblowers had no protection. She says: “I was in my bathroom, someone arrived, put a hood on my head, tied me, lowered my tights and started cutting my stomach. This moment, I lost consciousness. Subsequently, he raped me by telling myself that it was the last warning. “
She obviously filed a complaint for rape. Result: classification without follow -up. “I was protected for three weeks by gendarmes at home. Then I was considered crazy.” Indicted for “imaginary offense”, Maureen Kearney will finally be innovated in appeal procedure. Warnings, threats, then indictment or even attacks continue to be the Modus Vivendi that the whistleblowers suffer in 2023, as in 2012.
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