Just when you think you’d heard it all, a new type of job lawsuit has arisen— albeit outside of the United States.
Frederic Desnard, a Frenchman, has sued his former employer because of an enthralling case of ennui. He is seeking 360,000 euros (or $415,000) in damages for his distress, having worked for his former employer from 2010 to 2014.
His boredom apparently caused him serious emotional and health issues, including “critical depression” and “epileptic seizures.” These symptoms apparently led to a traffic accident and a coma, both of which placed him on medical leave, according to Desnard’s lawyer.
What makes this story even more perplexing is the fact that Desnard made over $4,000 in adjusted currency, for doing… nothing. He obviously felt that his skills were being wasted in performing menial and irrelevant tasks, such as picking up children from sports lessons.
His lawsuit is predicated upon the notion that his treatment at the company could be defined as harassment.
Of course, his former employer has a completely different story. They deny that condescending language was used against Desnard, and furthermore, have challenged his work ethic. Essentially everything about his account has been impugned.
This suit does bring up an interesting question: do employees have a right to interesting work? Moreover, do they have legal rights to interesting work? It is unlikely that this becomes a landmark case in any respect, but it does make one think.
