Woman sues company for assigning no work but fully paying her for 20 years
A woman who was ordered to do no work for the past 20 years but still got paid in full sued her company for harassment and discrimination.
The Sun reported earlier this week that Laurence Van Wassenhove was employed as a civil servant by France-Télécom in 1993, but was offered a secretary position instead to accommodate her health needs.
Van Wassenhove has epilepsy and hemiplegia, the paralysis of one side of the body. She's also a mother of two children, one of whom has autism. She reportedly struggled to make ends meet and faced eviction notices.
Orange took over France-Télécom in 2000 and in 2002, Van Wassenhove requested a transfer to another region. Two years later, Orange conducted an occupational medicine report and found that Van Wassenhove wasn't suitable for her role.
The company put her on standby, then on sick leave, before eventually offering her retirement due to her health issues.
In any case, Van Wassenhove remained an employee who's paid her salary in full while being assigned nothing.
She said she's an "outcast secretary," lamenting that she can no longer bear being excluded from work. She alleged that it's the company's way of pushing her to quit.
In 2015, she filed a complaint before the government and was referred to the High Authority for the Fight Against Discrimination. Orange then appointed a mediator but the situation only had little improvement.
Van Wassenhove, through her lawyer, said she suffered from depression due to the severe and isolating circumstances.
"Being paid, at home, not working is not a privilege. It's very hard to bear," she's quoted as saying.
Orange, in a statement sent to French newspaper La Dépêche this week, said it did everything to ensure Van Wassenhove worked in the best conditions possible, taking her "personal social situation" into account.
The company said it also planned a "a return to work in adapted position" but never happened as Van Wassenhove was regularly on sick leave.