What are the rights of an employee who is a victim or implicated during an internal investigation?

Updated 9 November 2026

Key contacts: Pascal-André Gérinier (Lawyer - Founder), William Mak (Lawyer - Founder)

The French Labour Code does not regulate the internal investigation: the employee has no statutory right to be assisted during their interview or to receive the report, and the employer does not have to warn them that an investigation has been opened (Cass. soc. 17 mars 2021, n° 18-25.597). They do, however, have guaranteed rights: not to be sanctioned for having reported or testified in good faith, to be protected during the investigation, to access their personal data, including their professional emails (Cass. soc. 18 juin 2025, n° 23-19.022), subject to the rights of third parties, and to challenge before the labour court (conseil de prud'hommes) any sanction based on an unfair investigation or a truncated report.

Key points

• Reporting or testifying in good faith protects: any retaliatory measure is void, even if the facts are ultimately not established.
• Being implicated opens no statutory procedure during the investigation: the employee may ask to be told the facts and to respond to them, and the statutory safeguards arise at the preliminary meeting; before the court, the benefit of the doubt goes to the employee.
• The employee may obtain their personal data, in principle within one month, professional emails included; access to third parties' statements depends on the data they contain and on the rights of the persons concerned.
• A precautionary suspension that is not promptly followed by proceedings, or that remains unpaid without serious misconduct, can be challenged.
• The remedies: labour court, interim proceedings (référé), Article 145 to obtain documents, the CNIL, the labour inspectorate, the Defender of Rights.

In an internal investigation, you may be the person reporting the facts, the person implicated or a witness. Your position determines the precautions and steps that are useful. No legislation imposes a specific investigation procedure on the employer. Rights nevertheless apply, laid down by the French Labour Code, the GDPR and, in some cases, the Sapin II Act. They concern protection against retaliation, access to your data and the challenge of the decisions taken. MOSAIK advises employees and executives, without ever representing both parties to the same matter.

The employee who reports: protected if in good faith

No person who has suffered or refused to suffer repeated acts of psychological harassment, or who has in good faith reported or testified to such acts, may be subjected to the retaliatory measures listed in Article L. 1121-2 of the French Labour Code, sanction, dismissal, discriminatory measure or any measure referred to in the Sapin II Act, and they benefit from the adjusted burden of proof provided for in Article 10-1, III, of that Act (Article L. 1152-2 of the French Labour Code); any contrary termination or measure is void (Article L. 1152-3). The same protection applies to sexual harassment (Article L. 1153-2). Good faith is presumed: bad faith can result only from the employee's knowledge that the facts they report are false, and it is for the employer to establish it; it cannot be inferred from the fact that the investigation does not confirm the facts (Cass. soc. 7 février 2012, n° 10-18.035). Where the report goes through the whistleblowing channel, there are added the confidentiality of identity (Sapin II Act, Article 9), the prohibition of retaliation, the list of which includes in particular suspension, demotion, pay reduction or blacklisting, any contrary act being void as of right (Article 10-1), an adjusted burden of proof in the employee's favour (Article 10-1, III), and the possibility of applying to the labour court, including in interim proceedings (référé), in the event of termination following the alert (Article 12). If the report went through the whistleblowing channel, its author receives written feedback within three months; outside that framework, informing the complainant of the outcome is good practice, not an obligation, and they do not receive the interview records of the other persons heard. The guide How to receive and process a whistleblower report? details this regime.

If you are reporting facts, establish a precise timeline: dates, places, words, conduct and any witnesses. Keep your own exchanges and the relevant material, without taking company documents beyond what is strictly necessary for your defence. You may consult the occupational physician and alert an elected works council (CSE) member, who has the right of alert provided for in Article L. 2312-59 of the French Labour Code, or the labour inspectorate. Ask in writing what action will be taken on your report. Avoid public accusations, which may give rise to defamation proceedings. Take advice quickly to preserve your rights and adapt your steps to the situation.

The implicated employee: the benefit of the doubt, but no statutory procedure governs the investigation

The implicated person has no statutory procedure to rely on: the investigation is not a monitoring system subject to prior information (Cass. soc. 17 mars 2021), and the right to be assisted under Article L. 1232-4 applies only to the preliminary meeting before dismissal. The Cour de cassation accepts that an investigation may be conducted without informing them and even without interviewing them (Cass. soc. 17 mars 2021, n° 18-25.597): the absence of an interview does not, in itself, make the investigation unfair, and shortcomings in method are not sufficient to exclude the report (Cass. soc. 29 juin 2022, n° 21-11.437). But the implicated person may ask to be told the facts and to put forward their observations, and a report that has not recorded their account will, in practice, have less probative value. The statutory safeguards arise at the next stage: summons to a preliminary meeting, statement of the grounds and assistance by a person from the company before any sanction other than a warning (Article L. 1332-2) or, before a dismissal, by a person from the company or, where there are no employee representatives, by an employee adviser (Article L. 1232-4). A precautionary suspension must be followed without delay by the disciplinary procedure, unless there is a justified wait for the conclusions of the investigation (Cass. soc. 30 octobre 2013, n° 12-22.962), and salary remains in principle payable if no serious or gross misconduct is ultimately found. Before the labour court, the judge forms their view on the basis of the evidence supplied by both parties, and the benefit of the doubt goes to the employee (Article L. 1235-1 for dismissal, Article L. 1333-1 for other sanctions); a challenge to a dismissal is time-barred twelve months from its notification (Article L. 1471-1), a time limit that does not apply to claims based on harassment or discrimination.

If you are implicated, prepare a timeline and gather the documents that make it possible to verify the facts. As soon as you are summoned, consult a lawyer. Ask whether you may be assisted during the interview: where the investigation is conducted by a lawyer, their ethical rules provide for this information where facts could be alleged against you. Have the alleged facts specified, then respond factually, without speculating on the intentions of others. Ask to read over the written record before signing and to have errors corrected or your reservations recorded. Your consent is not required for the processing of your data in the investigation, which rests on the employer's legitimate interest or legal obligation; you may, on the other hand, request access to your personal data on the basis of Article 15 of the GDPR. Avoid contacting the complainant or the witnesses: such exchanges could be interpreted as pressure.

The witness: protected against retaliation, with no obligation to sign

A witness acting in good faith enjoys the same protection as the complainant (Article L. 1152-2): no sanction, no discriminatory measure for having testified. No legislation obliges them to testify or to sign the written record, and they may ask for their refusal to be noted; a refusal to take part in an interview organised during working time may, however, depending on the circumstances, be held against them. In a whistleblowing procedure, their identity is covered by confidentiality (Sapin II Act, Article 9). They may subsequently, if they agree, draw up a witness statement in the form required by Article 202 of the French Code of Civil Procedure, written, dated, signed and accompanied by an identity document; a knowingly false statement exposes them to criminal penalties.

Accessing the report and your data

You may ask the employer for a copy of your personal data, in particular those appearing in the written record of your interview. Article 12 of the GDPR provides for a response within one month, with a possible extension of two months. Article 15 of the GDPR also gives access to your professional emails, their content and their metadata, subject to the rights of others (Cass. soc. 18 juin 2025, n° 23-19.022). It does not give automatic access to the full report; the passages of the statements that concern you are your personal data and may be disclosed, anonymised where appropriate to protect the witnesses. If the employer relies on the report in court, the judge assesses its probative value, in particular in the light of any omissions. In the event of an unjustified refusal, you may apply to the CNIL.

Situation, rights, steps, remedies: the table

Remedies

Depending on the situation, several avenues are open:

• the labour court, to have a retaliatory sanction or dismissal set aside, to obtain damages for breach of the duty of safety or to challenge a suspension;
• interim proceedings before the labour court, to put an end to a manifestly unlawful disturbance or prevent imminent harm (Article R. 1455-6 of the French Labour Code);
• the expedited procedure on the merits opened by an alert from an elected works council member, where the employer fails to act (Article L. 2312-59);
• an application under Article 145 of the French Code of Civil Procedure, in interim proceedings or ex parte, to obtain before any trial documents held by the employer, for example comparative data in a discrimination case (Cass. soc. 22 septembre 2021, n° 19-26.144);
• the CNIL in the event of refusal of access to data, the labour inspectorate, and the Defender of Rights for discrimination;
• a criminal complaint, psychological harassment being punishable by two years' imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros (Article 222-33-2 of the French Criminal Code).

MOSAIK advises employees, implicated executives and elected works council members exercising their right of alert in each of these avenues, after checking that it is not already advising the company in the same matter. Beyond the law, an investigation is an ordeal for the people it concerns: the firm can arrange confidential personal support, listening, referral to a psychologist, a mediator or the occupational health service, and coordination with legal counsel if the person so wishes, without any health data being passed to the employer. The Employment law page presents this support; the Internal investigations page explains how the firm conducts the investigation when instructed by the employer.

What changes according to the facts

Your rights vary according to your status and the facts. If you are a protected employee, your dismissal requires authorisation from the labour inspectorate. If you are a whistleblower within the meaning of the Sapin II Act, retaliation is void as of right, with an adjusted burden of proof and a remedy before the labour court (Articles 10-1 and 12 of the Sapin II Act). In discrimination matters, Article L. 1134-1 of the French Labour Code adjusts the burden of proof. In sexual harassment matters, the protection of the person reporting and of the witness is laid down by Article L. 1153-2. An executive who is solely a corporate officer falls instead under the rules on removal from office, in particular those in the articles of association. In a foreign subsidiary, local law must be checked.