A coalition of trade unions has filed an unprecedented criminal complaint on behalf of all 7,500 employees of the Val-de-Marne departmental council, accusing the local authority’s leadership of institutional moral harassment and endangering public service users, France Inter reported on Monday, September 28.
The complaint, lodged on September 22 with the social division of the Paris prosecutor’s office, names seven individuals, including council president Olivier Capitanio of the Les Républicains party and vice-president Julien Weil, who oversees human resources and legal affairs, along with several directors general.
Unions Exhaust Internal Channels
The intersyndicale — comprising CGT CD 94, Ugict-CGT, FSU SNUTER 94 and CFDT Interco du Val-de-Marne — said it had exhausted all internal alert mechanisms before turning to the courts. The unions also triggered Article 40 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure, which obliges any public official aware of a crime or offence to report it to the public prosecutor, citing “involuntary homicide” and “endangering the lives of others.”
The 63-page complaint details the consequences of severe budget cuts in recent years, including three staff suicides in a single year — in July and October 2025 and in May 2026. It also documents deteriorating working conditions and the impact on public services, particularly delays in accessing social benefits and child protection measures.
Hundreds of Positions Cut
According to the complaint, 474 full-time equivalent positions were eliminated between January 1, 2024, and January 1, 2026, through unfilled retirement posts, vacant positions and outright job cuts.
“A low-noise redundancy plan that eliminates positions every quarter,” the intersyndicale said. “Staff in under-resourced teams are asked to take on the work of colleagues who were never replaced, pushing them constantly beyond their capacity and strength,” said Thierry, a CFDT union representative.
Management Pressure and Health Impact
The complaint describes managerial techniques involving pressure and humiliation, quoting remarks from supervisors such as “Those who whine can leave” and “There will always be winners and losers.”
The health consequences are quantified: resignations have risen, compulsory medical leave for health reasons has nearly quadrupled, therapeutic part-time arrangements have tripled, and medical visits requested by staff surged by 79% between 2024 and 2025.
“For 18 months, we have been witnessing a tipping point among staff,” said Sylvie, a member of the FSU Territorial union, describing “distress” and “anxiety.” She said she had spoken by phone the previous week with an employee threatening suicide.
Child Protection Backlog
Unions also warn of the impact on services for residents. Processing times for the disability compensation benefit (PCH) and the personalized autonomy allowance (APA) for the elderly have lengthened. Social workers can schedule initial appointments but can no longer provide follow-up.
In child protection, approximately 1,500 concerning reports and 900 in-home educational support measures are pending. “That means potentially 1,500 explosive situations involving children or siblings in danger or difficulty are at a standstill,” a FSU Territorial representative said. “While the legal deadline for processing such reports is three months, we are now looking at around ten months.”
Departmental Leadership Pushes Back
Contacted by France Inter, Capitanio and Weil responded through their chief of staff, who called the allegations “particularly unjust given the quality of work provided by departmental staff.” They said budgetary resources allocated to child protection are “steadily increasing, placing Val-de-Marne in a generally more favorable position than most French departments.” The council’s executive disputed the assessment of the impact on service users and noted the complaint comes ahead of professional elections.
‘Public Service Defending Itself Against the State’
The intersyndicale said its repeated warnings had gone unanswered, prompting the criminal filing. “It is public service defending itself against the state,” said Christelle Mazza, a lawyer for the intersyndicale. “Public policies cannot do just anything.” She added that what is happening in this department is happening across all local authorities. “The message sent is that it is possible to come together collectively to defend a single principle: dignity at work.”
