You’ve got to fight for your right not to party.
A Frenchman who was fired for being “too boring” has been vindicated after a court ruled that his former company’s definition of “fun” violated his rights. The Court of Cassation in Paris made the decision earlier this month, however, it wasn’t revealed until this past week.
The unnamed employee, who goes by Mr. T, had worked as a senior advisor for the Paris-based consultancy firm Cubik Partners, which is notable for its “fun and pro” approach to work, the Telegraph reported. In the spirit of their mantra, they had thrown a series of mandatory soirees for staffers to help boost team spirit and prevent training sessions from becoming too boring.
Specifically, the firm would force employees to “participate in seminars and end-of-week drinks frequently ending up in excessive alcohol intake, encouraged by associates who made very large quantities of alcohol available,” per the appeals court. The sordid shindigs also included simulated sexual acts, sharing beds with colleagues during seminars, as well as cruel nicknames and other forms of hazing.
Needless to say, Mr. T abstained from the “Wolf of Wall Street”-esque extracurriculars on grounds that he didn’t agree with Cubik Partners’ definition of “fun,” per his testimony in court. The employee also declared that he was entitled to “critical behavior and to refuse company policy based on incitement to partake in various excesses.”
As a result of his refusal, the employee was subsequently canned in 2015 on the basis of “professional inadequacy” and failing to embody the “party” atmosphere that the consultancy was trying to cultivate. Other reasons for Mr. T’s sacking included being boring, bad at listening and difficult to work with, per the company, the Telegraph reported. In other words, it was a complete 180 from most employees who get fired for being too wild.
Redemption didn’t come until a whopping seven years later when the Parisian appeals court finally sided with Mr. T. The court ruled that it was the ex-staffer was exercising his “freedom of expression” by abstaining from the compulsory parties, which they linked to “promiscuity, bullying and incitement to get involved in various forms of excess and misconduct.”
They ultimately concluded that Cubik Partners’ culture of “fun” violated Mr. T’s “fundamental right to dignity and respect of private life.”
As a form of reparations, the court ordered the company to pay the former staffer $3,114 (€3,000). However, he has since demanded another $478,789 (€461,000), which the court will consider at a later date.
A completely opposite verdict was handed down in 2016, when a Frenchman was awarded $45,000 after declaring his job “too boring.”
Unfortunately, working and partying often go hand in hand in many cultures, where regular drinking is almost a prerequisite for ascending the corporate ladder.
“BD [business development] is all about maintaining relationships with existing clients, and trying to win new clients,” a London-based lawyer, who goes by Patrick, told the BBC of passing the “bar” exam. “BD involves booze as a social lubricant, it makes people more willing to loosen up and bond.”
He explained, “If you don’t do BD successfully, chances are you won’t ever become a partner. So the consumption of alcohol is an unspoken necessity if you want to progress.”
In an effort to combat party culture in 2018, WeWork scrapped its unlimited beer option at its offices in New York City.