It is a chilling reality. Thursday March 30, Publication revealed, in a lengthy investigation published on his website, the testimonies of twenty collaborators or assistants of Antoine Veylawyer and former partner of Éric Dupond-Moretti before he became Keeper of the Seals.
These people all worked alongside the lawyer, over an almost ten-year period, from 2014 to today. Some didn’t rub against each other, but all tell the same daily life, punctuated by abstruse missions, harassment, humiliation or even longer working hours.
“Corvéables à merci”
Among the most recurring accusations made against Antoine Vey, a permanent overload of work, the impression of being “hard work at will”as several people reveal.
Some of them concern, for example, execution almost 70-80 hours of work per week. Several others report calls and messages at any time of the day or nighton weekends or, or even more so, during his holidays.
Almost everyone complains small sentences during the job interview, setting the stage for a collaboration that should not know balance between personal and professional life : “Between the lawyer or the vacation, you have to choose”, “I want you available in all circumstances”, OR “the right to disconnect is not enshrined in the law, but a right that is not in the law does not exist” are small sentences that leave no doubt that Antoine Vey expects total dedication from those he recruits.
Among the testimonials revealed by Publicationa collaborator who collaborated with the lawyer reports: “When he wants something, you have to do it in under five minutes on weekdays and under an hour on weekends, otherwise you’ll be exposed to blowers”.
Discrimination during maternity leave
To a woman who worked with him, the lawyer also throws: “I can’t raise you too much because the day you get pregnant will cost me dearly. »
Another, then on maternity leave, sees everything her office completely emptied, without her having been informed in advance.
Another witness also reports that the lawyer liked to repeat: “A good lawyer is measured by how he manages his maternity leave”.
Sexual harassment
Second Publicationthe ongoing proceedings at the level of the Paris Bar Association would also be enacted reports submitted by several women to the committee specializing in harassment and discrimination (Comhadis) of the Order.
“A dozen people have already described facts that could be traced back to moral and sexual harassment,” reports the newspaper. Some women even plan to take criminal action against the lawyer soon.
Among the testimonies collected, former employees highlight a theory put forward by them, those of the “favourite”. For a long time, Antoine Vey recruited the majority of women. Some of them have had to endure, sometimes for many months, problematic behaviors.
In court, an employee received unambiguous text messages: “Don’t you miss me too much?”. A former collaborator was also imprisoned hands on thighs and inappropriate comments : “We can see your legs” or even, “this colleague, would you sleep with him? » but also “what if I put my hand on your ass, what would your boyfriend do? “.
Therefore, many women feared being alone with him on the trip.
Control and humiliation
But several contributors also describe a control mechanism, punctuated by recurring humiliations of certain people : “ We are dealing with someone who exercises a pathological grip on his collaborations. He doesn’t want to work with them, he wants to control them, to dispose of their time as he sees fit. I’d almost say I own them. »
Another theory, brought up by his collaborators, was current, that of “elastic” : concretely, it was a way to illustrate the way in which, sometimes for several weeks, Antoine Vey could “target” a specific person, strongly denigrating them, before complimenting him when he felt “breakup” approaching.
Under pressure and stress, a lawyer would not menstruate for six months. Another lost 6 pounds in a matter of months.
Lack of professionalism
Finally, the investigation of Publication uncovers criticisms of handling and preparing large files, like that of the Balkany spouses or the Air Cocaine affair, for example.
“For Balkany, I was the only one not wearing the suit [elle n’avait pas encore prêté serment, ndlr] but the only one from the Dupond-Moretti e Vey firm who has read the file and knows what is at stake. It was great to have so much reliance on student lawyers with such high stakes. The day before the hearings, Antoine Vey made me come to his house. With baffling nonchalance, he asked me, “So what do I have to beg for tomorrow? What about Eric?”
“I admit that I am a demanding lawyer”
Contacted by France Televisions, Antoine Vey said he could not “let such allegations be made. I deny them and will establish the facts. »
“I admit that I am a demanding lawyer, because we operate in a framework where we owe our customers total commitment, high availability and protection of their interests,” he explained.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
