We’ve all heard about Japan’s toxic corporate culture: not only do employees have to commute for hours to get to the office, work endless hours—during which they aren’t particularly productive—but when they finish work, they have to go out for dinner and drinks with their boss. If there’s one thing we know about Japanese companies, it’s that you have to give your heart and soul, even outside office hours.
However, this is not an isolated case in Japanese society; there are other, much more open countries, such as France. It makes it seem possible, but there are cases where you can lose your job for refusing to participate in after-work drinks. This has been the reality for a French consultant who found himself in the middle of a legal battle with his former company, the Paris-based consulting firm Cubik Partners.
“You are fired for not being fun!”
Although it sounds like a nightmare that only someone with social anxiety could dream up, it actually happened. The case made international headlines, as the company formally fired this consultant for “professional incompetence”… and for not adhering to the company’s values of “fun and professionalism.” It must be admitted that there is social pressure to attend work-related events. Sometimes we have experienced it firsthand—or we have seen friends have to deal with it—a boss who likes to drink too much and expects the rest of his employees to join him in his drinking sessions.
But Mr. T. (as he is known in court documents) did not give in, and after years of litigation, he won. The French courts declared his dismissal null and void, and the final ruling in January 2024 ordered the company to pay him compensation of more than $575,000, including data and wages he lost during the proceedings.
Needless to say, this set a significant legal precedent in France, where there is now a “right to be boring” or, more precisely, the right not to participate in company social activities.
Toxic “fun culture” at companies
We all know it’s a red flag when an employee says in a job interview that their company “is like a big family.” At this point, we know that this means that a lot will be demanded of you and you will have to put up with things that are not in the contract. The Cubik Partners consulting firm expressed this in frequent seminars and weekend events that led to unacceptable practices: excessive and constant alcohol consumption, encouraged by the managers themselves. The last straw was the use of rude nicknames, simulations of sexual acts, and the obligation to share a bed with coworkers when they went on company weekend retreats.
Mr. T. decided to stay out of the activities, refusing to participate in the excesses. The company defends itself by claiming that his dismissal back in 2015 was due to his poor performance and a rigid and dry personality with his subordinates. However, the court considered that the real reason for the dismissal was the employee’s refusal to submit to the corporate culture of partying and excess.
The legal battle
Once dismissed, the road to legal victory took almost a decade. Justice moves slower than a snail, and the consultant was dismissed in 2015. In March 2021, an appeals court dismissed his claim. However, the case reached the highest French court, the Court of Cassation, which intervened in November 2022. This court of cassation overturned the previous decision and ruled in favor of Mr. T.
In a country like France, where alcohol is an extension of social life, it is very difficult to draw a line between work and personal life. The question we ask ourselves is this: would the court have dismissed the case if the employee fired for not giving in to his superiors’ excesses had been a woman?