The Paris industrial tribunal declared, Monday, December 15, the nullity of the dismissal of the former national technical director of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) Nicolas Escudé, and ordered the FFT to pay him nearly 850,000 euros in compensation.
The country’s second sports federation, which appointed Nicolas Escudé in March 2021 before notifying him of his dismissal in 2024, will notably have to pay more than 330,000 euros for “violation of employment guarantee commitment” and 180,000 euros for “nullity of dismissal”according to the judgment communicated Monday to AFP.
The FFT will also have to pay 80,000 euros to its former national technical director for “harcelement morale” and the same amount for “professional and economic damage”. The Paris industrial tribunal finally ordered the FFT to pay 81,386.55 euros to Nicolas Escudé as compensation.“compensatory compensation for notice”and 50,000 euros under the “moral, social and family harm”. The council finally orders the body chaired by Gilles Moretton “delivery of end-of-contract documents, without penalty”.
“Nicolas Escudé is not a civil servant”
The Federation “takes note of the decision”she reacted in a press release sent to Agence France-Presse. “This decision (…) appearing to be open to criticism, both in fact and in law, the Federation has decided to appeal.” et “remains fully confident in the outcome of (…) this ongoing litigation ». The FFT further ensures that the decision is “not accompanied by provisional execution” and that it will therefore not have to compensate the opposing party until the case has been judged on appeal.
The winner of the Davis Cup (2001) particularly contested a reorganization of the DTN which took place in September 2023. At the time, the management had been split into two poles. The first, entitled “path to high level” and dedicated to young people aged 5 to 15, was entrusted to Nicolas Escudé while the center “high level” (16 to 21 years old) had been placed under the joint responsibility of Paul-Henri Mathieu and Ivan Ljubicic.
A reorganization which emptied the function of DTN of its substance, according to Nicolas Escudé, who was then placed on sick leave before being fired in 2024. Re-elected in December 2024 for a second term, Gilles Moretton chose in March 2025 the former DTN of the French Rugby Federation, Didier Retière, to take over from him.
During a hearing before the industrial tribunal in October, FFT lawyer Méline Duperray considered that the contract signed by the former professional tennis player (1995-2004) did not include any guarantee of employment. “Nicolas Escudé is not a civil servant, there is no implicit obligation to guarantee employment. We can put an end to his functions as DTN”insisted Méline Duperray in comments reported by the media The Informed.
