Global consumer goods manufacturer and distributor defends against employment "class-action" style court action

Client(s) Global consumer goods manufacturer and distributor

Jones Day represented the French subsidiary of a global consumer goods manufacturer and distributor that faced an employment "class-action" style court action from over 150 of its employees dismissed on economic grounds following the shutting down of the French subsidiary.

Although the French subsidiary did not succeed in proving the economic case supporting the shut down before French courts, it was sentenced to pay only the minimum legal amount of damages to the dismissed employees. The French subsidiary was also successful in having the Supreme Court rule that the employees who had left the company, by mutual agreement, to benefit from a pre-retirement plan, would not be considered "dismissed", and could consequently not challenge the economic justifications used by the company to proceed with the shutting down and the plant closure.