Man wins legal right to not be "fun" at work after being fired for refusing after-work drinks

France’s highest court has ruled that companies can’t axe their employees for refusing to be “fun” at work.

The decision, which was issued on November 9, is the result of a case involving a man referred to as Mr. T.

He was fired from Paris-based consultancy firm Cubik Partners in 2015 for “professional incompetence.”

While the company said Mr. T was difficult to work with and a poor listener, the main reason for his dismissal was that he refused to take part in the company’s “fun” work culture.

According to the court documents, the “fun” activities included mandatory social events like after-work drinks that escalated to “excessive alcoholism encouraged by colleagues who made very large quantities of alcohol available.”

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It also described “practices pushed by colleagues involving promiscuity, bullying and incitement to various excesses” and “humiliating and intrusive practices” encouraged by Cubik Partners, like simulating sexual acts and forcing Mr. T to share his bed with a colleague.

The court sided with Mr. T, stating that he had a legal right to exercise his “freedom of expression” and that being no fun at work is a “fundamental freedom” that has no grounds for firing.

In Canada, courts have also sided with employees for unfair dismissals.

In July, Bell Canada was ordered to pay over $121,000 to an employee who, the court ruled, was fired “recklessly and willfully” while he fought cancer.