Gregory Robinson
A woman is suing a company after she was paid a salary but claims she was never given any work to do.
Although this set up might sound ideal for many workers, this was not the case to Laurence Van Wassenhove who described it as a nightmare.
Last year, the 59-year-old sued her employer, telecom company Orange, for ‘forced inactivity’ and for ‘making her invisible’ in the workplace for over 20 years.
When she joined Orange back in 1993 it was known as France Télécom. Van Wassenhove developed epilepsy and hemiplegia, a condition causing paralysis on one side of the body and she was no longer able to continue her original position.
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She was then reassigned to a more secretarial role, as she was also a trained HR assistant.
This reasonable adjustment however soon led to what she describes as a period of standstill.
In 2002 she said she requested a transfer to another region of France, however an occupational health assessment later decided she was unfit for the position, and she was then placed on standby.
She claimed the years that followed made her feel like an ‘outcast secretary’ which had an impact on her mental health, she told FTV.
“I was paid, yes, but I was treated like I didn’t exist,” she told Mediapart.
Van Wassenhove further claimed after a complaint to the government and High Authority for the Fight against Discrimination back in 2015 that not much improved.
"Being paid, at home, not working is not a privilege. It's very hard to bear," she admitted of the unfulfilling situation.
As a result, her lawyer David Nabet-Martin claims that she now has mental health issues such as depression due to being isolated for so long, as he claimed she was deprived from 'having a place in society' as a disabled person.
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Orange released a statement regarding the 2024 case via outlet La Dépêche and said the company had taken her ‘personal social situation’ into account and made sure she was kept in the best conditions considering her health.
The mobile company also claimed that she was lined up for a return to work in a new position, though it never came to fruition because she was regularly on sick leave.
UNILAD has contacted Orange for further comment.