Office notebook. Irène Frachon (Mediator), Edward Snowden (illegal eavesdropping), but also Marine Martin, Denis Breteau, and so many others: more and more whistleblowers dare to denounce crimes, misdemeanors or simple threats made against the general interest by companies. It is at the rate of about fifteen per month that they now come to the House of whistleblowers. Since its creation in 2018, this association has welcomed 316, including 185 in 2021 alone, in particular from companies in the health, environment and finance sectors.
Adopted in early February by the National Assembly, the bill of deputy Sylvain Waserman (MoDem) relating to the protection of whistleblowers has just given these employees or ex-employees hope that their report will be less difficult.
Some obstacles have indeed been removed. “They no longer have to go through their hierarchy to make a report; they can also appeal to an organization or a union, and they are protected by civil or penal irresponsibility”, Explain Glen Millot, the general delegate of the House of whistleblowers, who salutes “significant progress”. The Waserman Bill also provides financial assistance to whistleblowers, protects “facilitators”namely the organizations that support them, and allows them to directly contact an independent authority.
But the situation will remain complicated. “What I especially regret is the lack of psychological support. Faced with pressure from laboratories, questions from the media, during years of struggle, you feel very alone”, underlines Marine Martin, whistleblower on the risks of Depakine prescribed to pregnant women until 2017, an antiepileptic responsible for physical and autistic disorders of thousands of children.
Spiral
Despite the European obligation since 2019 to establish reporting channels in all private companies with at least 50 employees, in France, “only one out of two companies has set up a reporting circuit”says Franca Salis-Madinier, national secretary of the CFDT executives and rapporteur for the European Economic and Social Committee of a opinion on the protection of whistleblowers in Europe. A framework that is vital to the resolution of cases.
Initially, when an executive alerts his company internally, he does not recognize himself as a whistleblower, more often than not, he just wants to solve a problem, whether it is financial fraud, breaches of the environment and even health risks. Then he is taken into a spiral, where he often loses his job, and not only. “The legal framework of the Sapin II law [de 2016] was very protective, but that didn’t stop me from being fired”testifies Denis Breteau, whistleblower and ex-executive in the direction of the purchases of the SNCF. “Financially, it is very heavy. The loss of a salary makes it impossible to continue the legal proceedings. Each expertise is very expensive”adds Marine Martin.
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