The administrative court of Nancy canceled, Thursday, October 20, the sanction pronounced against Anthony Smith, a labor inspector laid off, then transferred, in 2020, for having disobeyed his hierarchy at the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. “This judgment confirms that Anthony has only done his job” and “sheds light on the purely political nature of the sanction”quickly welcomed his support committee in a press release posted on Twitter.
Mr. Smith was accused of having demanded the provision of personal protective equipment, in particular masks, and the implementation of protective measures against Covid-19, for the benefit of employees of an association. home help in the Marne, at a time when masks, which were lacking, were not compulsory.
The inspector had been laid off in April 2020, in full confinement, while Muriel Pénicaud was Minister of Labor. His successor, Elisabeth Borne, the current Prime Minister, then transformed the sanction into an automatic transfer to Seine-et-Marne, before finally pronouncing a transfer to the Meuse, closer to Mr. Smith’s home. Mme Borne had criticized the handling of the case by the then chief labor director, who later resigned.
A “disproportionate” sanction
At the hearing before the administrative court in September, the public rapporteur had requested the cancellation of the sanction, judging it “disproportionate given the low seriousness of the charges”. “This file is empty, I only did my work as a labor inspector”said Mr. Smith, surrounded by dozens of people, including the “rebellious” deputies Mathilde Panot and Caroline Fiat, who came to support him.
He had denounced a sanction taken “for political reasons” and an “attack on labor inspectors”. His lawyer, Mr.e Renaud Fages, had, for his part, mentioned a “folder assembled from scratch”, “to hit a union, the CGT”of which Anthony Smith is a member.