Jérôme Pernoo, a renowned cellist, had taken legal action after his dismissal on May 11, following an administrative investigation and disciplinary proceedings.
The Administrative Court of Paris confirmed on Wednesday the dismissal, without notice or compensation, by the Paris Conservatory of a cello teacher accused by two former students “facts that may constitute harassment or sexual assaultbut he denies it.
Jérôme Pernoo, a renowned cellist, had taken legal action after his dismissal on May 11 by the National Conservatory of Music and Dance (CNSMD) in Paris, following an administrative investigation and disciplinary proceedings.
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But the court considered that the penalty “was not disproportionate to the faults committedby the teacher, “characterized in particular by breaches of his obligation of dignity, in the exercise of his duties as a teacher, vis-à-vis his students, as well as his duties of exemplarity, reserve and loyalty towards his employer“, According to a press release.
Pernoo “continues to deny the charges against him”
The professor, who still teaches at the conservatory where he is in charge of a class, “won’t stop there“, will appeal and ask to block the execution of the judgment, his lawyer Patrice Spinosi told AFP. This decision “only concerns his activities at the conservatory» and does not prevent him from teaching elsewhere, he added, specifying that Jérôme Pernoo «continues to deny the charges against him“, and that he had never been summoned, nor heard in the criminal investigation opened on these facts.
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This investigation, opened on April 20, 2021 for sexual assault on a minor and entrusted to the Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) is still ongoing, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP.
A teacher at the CNSMD since 2007, the cellist was initially suspended as a precaution, following reports by two former students to the director of the establishment. He had obtained the lifting of this decision in court.
Eleven testimonials
In its order, the court recalls that the professor, who had never been the subject of a report of this type before, was accused of “inappropriate behavior during his lessons, in particular by regularly using nonsense or remarks with a sexual connotation, likely to disturb some students“, as well as the establishment of a “friendly climate (…) in particular by the kiss, the familiarity, the use of nicknames“which would have contributed to exceed”the framework of the teacher-student relationship“.
“Eleven testimonies show (that he) had inappropriate gestures towards two former students» in particular during a study trip to Russia, of which «gravityled the management to seize the prosecutor, notes the order.
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