If he had answered 2 days later, Antoine Zenone could have been considered for a buyout (Representative)
A manager who was paid about $ 18,000 a month by LafargeHolcim Ltd. for doing nothing failed in his lawsuit to force the cement maker to fire him with a payment worth more than $ 2 million. Timing was his loss.
When his employer Lafarge SA announced in 2015 a staff buyout program as part of its merger with Holcim Ltd., Antoine Zenone hoped to be able to obtain a handshake in gold. But the company told him he was not eligible and the French judges said “no” – three times in a row.
The Paris Court of Appeal ruled that Zenone could not benefit from the plan because he had already accepted an expatriate position in Singapore. This suspended his employment contract in France and excluded him from takeover offers made to Lafarge’s domestic staff.
Zenone was looking for around 2.1 million euros ($ 2.3 million) and until recently Lafarge had paid 16,195 euros gross per month without having to provide work, according to last week’s decision.
The two largest cement manufacturers in the world partnered in 2015 to cut costs and increase value as demand for building materials eroded. But LafargeHolcim’s shares slipped in the following years due to a loss of investor confidence and a scandal over operations in war-torn Syria.
General manager
When Zenone returned from his position as managing director of the Lafarge branch in Singapore two years ago, Lafarge offered him a position as project manager but he did not accept this position. He says on his LinkedIn profile that he started a new job with a plastic pipe manufacturer last month.
LafargeHolcim said in a statement that it does not comment on personnel matters. Zenone did not respond to requests for comment on the trial.
As part of this merger, Lafarge told staff representatives in May 2015 that around 380 jobs would be lost worldwide, in part thanks to a voluntary program.
Just two days earlier, he had written an email cited in the lawsuit that he agreed to take the Singapore position. “I can’t wait to get started,” he said.
French contract
If he had replied two days later, Zenone could have been considered for a buyout.
Zenone later complained that he had been misled by accepting the expatriate post in Singapore and asked to take over a contract with France.
In mid-2016, he told Lafarge that he had only accepted the publication because he believed it meant eventually becoming the country’s CEO for the operations of the two cement companies in the state of Southeast Asia.
This argument, which did not move LafargeHolcim, also did not convince the Paris Court of Appeal.
“He cannot claim that his job was made impossible since he continued to hold office for almost three years,” the judges said. The court added that there was no evidence that Lafarge was responsible for the failed merger of the two companies’ operations in Singapore.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
