A letter sent by the book
On 18 January 2018, a firm of chartered accountants sent one of its employees a letter by recorded delivery inviting her to a pre-dismissal interview, scheduled eleven days later. On the same day, the employee was suspended. The address was correct and the letter was sent in the required form.
One detail, however, would turn the case on its head: the delivery notice remained attached to the envelope. The employee was therefore never informed that a recorded letter was awaiting her at the post office.
Gross misconduct upheld despite thirty years’ service
A lawyer who had worked at the firm for thirty years, she held the part-time position of head of the legal department. In 2015, she set up her own business in parallel, offering corporate strategy consulting and other services, which her employer considered to be in competition with its own. She was dismissed for gross misconduct on 19 February 2018.
Before the courts, her arguments on the merits failed. Even with a small client base and modest earnings, her business competed sufficiently with her employer’s to amount to a serious breach of her duty of loyalty. Gross misconduct was upheld, notwithstanding her length of service and the absence of any previous disciplinary sanction.
La Poste at fault, the employer liable
The dispute then shifted to procedure. When the employer received the letter back, after the date of the interview, it bore the postal mention “notified and not collected” (pli avisé et non réclamé). On paper, the employee appeared to have been informed and to have neglected to collect her letter. In reality, she had never been notified.
The Court of Appeal initially found that the employer was not to blame, as the error was attributable to La Poste. The Cour de cassation took the opposite view. As employment lawyer Antoine Grou explains, a period of five working days must separate the first presentation of the letter from the pre-dismissal interview, and it is indeed this presentation at the employee’s home that is decisive. It matters little whether the employee then chooses not to collect the letter: it must still have been actually presented to them, which was not the case here.
According to the lawyer, by entrusting its post to La Poste, the company relies on it, and an error by the service provider remains the employer’s responsibility in its relationship with the employee.
An irregularity costing €6,887
On 11 December 2024, the Cour de cassation therefore upheld the dismissal for gross misconduct but ruled the procedure irregular. In such cases, the law allows the employee to be awarded compensation of up to one month’s salary: the employee obtained the maximum, namely €3,887. The employer was also ordered to pay her €3,000 towards her legal costs before the Cour de cassation, bringing the total to €6,887.
This decision is part of a series of rulings clarifying employers’ procedural obligations, such as the two clarifications issued in March 2026 on dismissal for incapacity and the calculation of severance pay.
A practical issue for hotel HR departments
Analysis – For hotel groups and establishments, whose large workforces lead to numerous disciplinary procedures, the ruling is an invitation to secure invitation letters beyond merely sending them by recorded delivery. Proof of first presentation becomes the decisive factor, and a “notified and not collected” mention is not, on its own, enough to guarantee that the procedure is regular.
Analysis – The amount remains limited given that the dismissal was upheld on the merits, but the case illustrates how closely judges scrutinise procedural formalities, at a time when bringing a claim before the employment tribunal has been simplified since 1 October.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
French Supreme Court: postal error makes dismissal procedure irregular
Ruling dated December 11, 2024 (Cour de cassation)
Dismissal for gross misconduct upheld, but procedure ruled irregular
Delivery notice left attached to the envelope: employee never notified
Five working days required between first presentation and pre-dismissal interview
Employer ordered to pay €6,887 in total
