French media Le Parisien reported on the 19th that a woman named Laurence Van Wassenhove was recruited as a civil servant by France Telecom in 1993. Due to her congenital hemiplegia, a condition causing paralysis on one side of the body, she was offered a secretarial position after her employment.
In 2002, when Orange overtook France Telecom, Van Wassenhove was relocated to another region. She recalls, “That’s when the 20-year nightmare began. In the new workplace, they judged that I was unfit for work and put me on standby.”
The company also suggested retirement due to her disability. When Van Wassenhove refused, they instructed her to work from home and continued to pay her full salary without assigning any work.
Van Wassenhove described her situation as being “a discarded employee.”
Van Wassenhove, a mother of two, protested to the government in 2015. Although Orange intervened, no significant progress was made. Ultimately, due to workplace harassment, Van den Hove suffered from depression.
She argued that “getting paid without doing work at home is not a privilege, but a difficult thing to endure.”
The company responded, “We took all measures to ensure Van Wassenhove could work under the best possible conditions and considering her situation.”
Van Wassenhove’s lawyer stated, “For the disabled, a job means securing a place in society. We ended up suing for the deterioration of health due to the company’s negligence and for moral harassment and discrimination.”
