An employee’s humour or popularity cannot excuse sexist or racist comments
Published on 14/01/2026
The Court of Cassation usually considers that racist remarks made by an employee are wrongful and justify the dismissal of the person concerned, often for serious misconduct, for example:
refusal to carry out an order followed by racial insults and death threats towards a superior (Cass. soc., 3 December 2008, no. 07-43.936);
a site manager who called one of his subordinates of North African origin a “rotten Arab” (Cass. soc., 7 March 1991, no. 89-42.160);
repeated humiliating remarks with racist connotations made by one employee towards another (Cass. soc., 5 December 2018, no. 17-14.594);
offensive remarks with racist and sexist connotations made by an employee towards his most vulnerable subordinates, which were likely to intimidate them and harm their health (Cass. soc., 8 November 2023, no. 22-19.049).
A ruling of 5 November 2025 took the same approach. It did not matter that the employee’s racist and sexist remarks were intended to be “humorous” and that the statements submitted to the court by the person concerned showed that he was liked by many of his colleagues.
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An employee's humour or popularity cannot excuse s...
