Source date: 2026-06-08
Can an employer dismiss an employee who did not inform them of her pregnancy? Published on June 9, 2026 - Entreprendre Service Public / Direction de l'information légale et administrative (Prime Minister's Office)
In a ruling issued on June 3, 2026, the Cour de cassation addressed the case of an employee dismissed for announcing her pregnancy to her employer late.
In this case, an employer dismissed an employee for gross misconduct after she announced her pregnancy. The employee worked in the chemical industry. She had informed her employer of her pregnancy nearly five months after learning of it herself. The employer justified the dismissal by stating that she was exposed to chemical products that could harm her physical or mental health and that of her fetus. He thus indicated that, under such circumstances, retaining the employee would expose him to civil and criminal liability.
The employee decided to bring the case before the labor court (conseil des prud’hommes) to seek nullification of her dismissal, which she considered to be based on her pregnancy. The labor court annulled her dismissal.
Subsequently, the employer appealed to the court of appeal to challenge the decision. The court of appeal stated that by not disclosing her pregnancy to her employer, the employee had voluntarily exposed herself to risk. She was required to handle products contraindicated during pregnancy, which prevented her from fully meeting the requirements of her employment contract. According to the court of appeal, these facts were indeed likely to engage the employer’s civil and criminal liability, as ignorance of the pregnancy prevented the employer from taking appropriate measures. The court of appeal emphasized that this dismissal was therefore not based on her state of pregnancy but on the fact that she had concealed this condition from her employer.
The employee brought the case before the Cour de cassation. The Court overturned the court of appeal’s decision. It recalled that a woman is not required to disclose her pregnancy to her employer and that any dismissal pronounced for this reason is considered null and void. Such an act would violate the principle of equal rights between men and women.
For the Court, informing the employer late about one’s pregnancy is not considered gross misconduct, even in cases where the employee is exposed to health risks. In this case, the Court ruled that the dismissal was null and void.
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Source: Service-Public professionals