A French woman sues her employer for not giving her work to do , despite being paid her salary for 20 years.
This might look strange to some people , Laurence , Van Wassenhove(59) says it’s a nightmare.
As at the time Laurence joined France Telecom 1993, she was full of big dreams for her career as a human resource specialist.
However, owing to her state of health, which includes epilepsy and hemiplegia-a paralysis affecting one side of the body, she , she was as an alternative offered a secretarial position and her employer ada[pted her work environment to suit her status.
In a twist, in 2002, France Telecom was taken over by another firm, Orange.
As a result of the taken over, Laurence, a mother of two , requested a transfer to another regional office . Orange approved the request but then an occupational health assessmentb conducted in 2004 determined she would not be able to function in the position and she was placed on a standby.Laurence alleges the company then simply stopped giving her any work to do, leaving her in a career limbo.
Speaking to broadcaster FTV, Laurence says, she felt like an outcast, which took an emotional toll on her mental health.
”I was paid,yes, ” she told French media outlet-Mediapart, ”but I was treated like I didn’t exist’, she said.
Laurence alleges she was instructed to stay at home and that for 10years, the absence of work assignment , an office or colleagues left her feeling isolated.
In 2015, tired of being ignored, Laurence filed complaints with the French anti-discrimination authorities,hoping mediation might resolve the situation, butb nothing came of it.
she says,”Being paid , at home, not working is not a privilege . ”It”s very hard to bear”.