2023-10-27 14:43:39
A recent ruling by the Constitutional Court regarding another case will likely set a precedent for all the former directors of Nethys, namely Stéphane Moreau, Pol Heyse, Bénédicte Bayer, Jos Donville, Gil Simon, Frédéric Van de Schoor and Daniel Weekers.
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Revealed Thursday by RTL, this legal thunderclap is the work of another manager of a Walloon public company, namely Luc Partoune, former director of Liege Airport. He too had been subject to the Walloon Region’s desire to reduce to €245,000 the annual remuneration ceiling for the bosses of public companies for which it is responsible.
His salary having been cut in half overnight, he went to court arguing that his employer could not unilaterally affect his employment contract without compensation. A remark of simple common sense which had already been raised at the time for the leaders of Nethys. For its part, the Walloon Region explained that it was a matter of “strengthening governance and ethics within Walloon organizations. »
The Constitution violated
Read also Moreau, Heyse, Fornieri and Co: indictments galore and stays in prison
The Liège Labor Court therefore questioned the Constitutional Court in order to obtain a definitive answer. And it has just delivered an unequivocal judgment: “In that they do not provide for reasonable transitional measures, the modifications made by the Walloon Region to the status of the public administrator violate Article 16 of the Constitution. » And she even adds an article from the European Convention on Human Rights.
Article 16 of the Belgian Constitution states that: “No one may be deprived of their property except for reasons of public utility…, and subject to fair and prior compensation. » The employment contract also being considered as property, “the amount of remuneration is, explains the Court, one of the essential elements on which a worker aligns his behavior in deciding whether to contract or not. »
“No one may be deprived of their property except for reasons of public interest…, and in exchange for fair and prior compensation. »
Article 16Belgian Constitution
Even if the Constitutional Court recognizes the Walloon Region’s right to cap the remuneration of its managers, it cannot do so “without reasonable transitional measures”.
16.7 million euros
So what do we mean by that? “Either we gave them their notice and paid them normally until the end of it, or we settled amicably, or we granted them compensation,” explains a keen observer of the file. But Walloon ministers Di Rupo and Dermagne wanted to push through by unilaterally deciding to terminate the contracts of Nethys managers and depriving them of their compensation. This cannot be done in a state of law. »
Stéphane Moreau, Bénédicte Bayer and Pol Heyse. -SP
We are talking here, remember, about the famous “retention allowances” that Nethys had planned and granted to its managers if they were ever to be made redundant by the Walloon Region: 8.6 million for Stéphane Moreau; 1.7 million each for Pol Heyse, Jos Donvil and Daniel Weekers; 1, 2 for Frédéric Vandeschoor and 0.9 million each for Bénédicte Bayer and Gil Simon. A total of 16.7 million (gross) which have since been blocked by the courts while awaiting a judgment in this case.
The Region’s lawyer, Marc Uyttendaele, did not want to react as the case is still under investigation. As for the Liège public prosecutor’s office, it will have to take this into account in its future indictment. Unless there is a new twist, this “compensation” aspect of the Nethys affair could therefore prove to be obsolete and lead to a dismissal of the case and the lifting of the seizures. Therefore, only the “sales of subsidiaries” aspect will remain to be judged.
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