In May 2021, Laure Vitou, who held the position of general director of Provale, the players’ union chaired since 2014 by Robins Tchale-Watchou, was dismissed for serious misconduct, a few months after her return to work. She had to stop to fight leukemia.
His story had moved many members of the Provale steering committee, like Jérôme Fillol who had decided to resign from his post, just like Laurent Sempéré, Rabah Slimani, Fanny Horta and Arthur Coville: “I noticed important social problems: for a structure of twelve employees, thirteen departures under the current presidency, all pushed towards the exit, no resignation…”, wrote Jérôme Fillol.
At the beginning of last week, Laure Vitou discovered the separation judgment rendered by the Toulouse industrial tribunal. A public and eloquent document on the conditions of his dismissal that we were able to read. His dismissal is therefore considered void, and Provale is convicted of moral harassment, concealed work, discrimination due to state of health, for breach by an employer of the safety obligation, as well as for dismissal in vexatious conditions…
When asked, the former director general did not want to comment on this decision.
Returning from sick leave, the DG is excluded from the main Provale files
As a reminder, on her return to the office, after her sick leave during which she continued to work, Laure Vitou was stunned to discover that a new general manager had been appointed, in the person of Mathieu Giudicelli, a former player whom she had also supported him in his reconversion and training. Excluded from the main issues, she had lost many prerogatives. A sidelining that had deeply shocked and bruised her.
But if she was fired, it was mainly because she had noticed that Robins Tchale-Watchou had tried to have a profound modification of the statutes adopted, at the end of the steering committee and the general meeting, in particular with the possibility for the president to be elected as many times as he wishes. Laure Vitou had sounded the alarm. Management was unable to carry out its project. Annoyed, she therefore fired Laure Vitou, immediately removing her health insurance.
Provale is considering appealing
Condemned, the union will have to pay around 150,000 euros to its former employee, and from now on, “on an enforceable basis”, as we can read in the judgment. Laure Vitou is not the first to leave the union where human management is somewhat surprising with around twenty departures since 2014, and to win at the industrial tribunal. Last February, after a long battle of seven years, it was the former head of training and retraining, Christophe Gaubert who won, in cassation, more than 120,000 euros.
Reached by telephone this Monday morning, Robins Tchale-Watchou did not wish to comment on this matter: “We are considering the idea of appealing, our advisors are working on the subject. » It seems that the union which will change president on May 30 with the election schedule wishes to appeal.
