Briefly, the first class action for discrimination at work in France

The first class action launched by a union organization may address union discrimination. On 23 May the CGT announced it had called on Safran's management to cease the difference in treatment for thirty-four employees based on CGT membership. The Law of 18 November 2016, called the 'modernisation of twenty-first century justice' introduced in France the ability for a representative organization to enter into a class action against discrimination (gender, origine, etc.) at work. The law requires a six month period of social dialogue prior to the action which must be initiated by this formal notice. 
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“In order to build the case, the CGT relies on the expertise it has developed over years of using the Clerc method, in the name of its militants, which is recognized by the jurisprudence as an instrument that measures career related discrimination and compensation for damages,” the organisation’s press statement clarified.

For more on this latest recourse to justice, c.f. article No. 9868. The law intends that legal action cannot address lacunae occurring prior to the coming into effect of the l

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