Bordeaux Police Officer Files Harassment Complaint, Alleges Racism Against Superior

The information published by Libération that two policewomen have filed a complaint against their superior has been confirmed by Frédérique Porterie, the public prosecutor of Bordeaux. "Two complaints for moral harassment (have been) filed between late April and mid-May in the context of an internal conflict within a group of investigators from the Bordeaux police station," she said, specifying that "only one" of the two complainants "mentions racist remarks."

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The two policewomen work in the "Domestic Violence" service. One of the complainants, who also accuses of racist remarks, has been working there since September after nearly 25 years of service. In her complaint, this policewoman of Maghrebi origin stated that she had suffered "harassment from her group leader." According to her, he multiplies "sexist and homophobic remarks towards female colleagues in the service, on the basis of their real or supposed sexual orientation." According to her lawyer Maxime Cessieux, the sergeant "came into her office one day and yelled at her for nearly forty minutes with a colleague, telling them that they were ’busting his balls’ and that one day ’a colleague could hit them’, because they were ’troublemakers’." She felt "belittled as she had never been in her career," he adds.

That’s not all. "Couscous, is it ready?" "I’m going to vote for Marine Le Pen in the next election," "big whore." The sergeant sergeant multiplies humiliating remarks and mockery in the hallways, in email or Whatsapp loops. Not to mention acts of devaluation and exclusion. According to lawyer Maxime Cessieux, the complainant "who is tired of being referred to her Maghrebi origins" and who is "outraged" by the "hostile and offensive" service atmosphere has finally alerted a union representative and the hierarchy, without anything happening. Faced with their inaction, the policewoman was forced to leave her service.

"There could have been a takeover of the service. My client had to leave her service and is not entitled to functional protection, it’s a double whammy," the lawyer still reproaches, awaiting "an energetic response from justice and the police environment." In the absence of "elements [...] to confirm or refute the accusations," the IGPN is conducting an investigation to determine whether these facts are proven or not, says the public prosecutor of Bordeaux.