Dismissal for serious misconduct does not necessarily include immediate dismissal of the employee

An employee was dismissed for serious misconduct by her employer. She appealed to the judge to contest her dismissal.

The Court of Appeal condemns the employer and finds the dismissal to be unfounded. Indeed, the employer had kept the employee in her job for one month before starting the dismissal procedure. For her, gross misconduct would have made it impossible to keep the employee in the company. So there was no gross misconduct. The employer appeals to the Court of Cassation.

The Court of Cassation annuls the appeal decision. In her view, the fact that the employee is kept in the workplace for one month does not preclude the existence of serious misconduct. The employer is not obliged to make a precautionary lay-off in respect of the employee concerned by a dismissal procedure. In addition, the employer had called the employee for a pre-interview a week after the incident.

Thus, the immediate dismissal of the employee is not mandatory in the case of dismissal for serious misconduct.