French Court Rules Against Employer Who Forced Muslim Worker to Change Name

The Paris Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Mohamed Amghar and convicted his former employer, Intergraph France, in civil court for discrimination. The man had to change his first name at the end of 1996, at the conclusion of his recruitment process in this company. "And then, the person who was going to be my manager asked me to change my first name, to no longer be called Mohamed. There was anger and shame," he confides to Le Parisien. This is how Mohamed became "Antoine" at work. "I suppose my hierarchical superior thought perhaps that addressing clients as a salesperson, calling them, prospecting, could not be done under the name Mohamed [...] It’s racism, discrimination."

And this lasted for a good 20 years: from 1997 to 2017. "The wound is still there. It’s 20 years of a life. 20 years is huge!" declares the man who was irreproachable in his work and had a remuneration that allowed him to live decently. His exceptional professional results earned him several annual rewards, "Awards," all bearing the name Antoine. "If I keep all this, it’s not to remind me of good memories. I told myself that maybe, one day, it would be useful." Mohamed kept all the evidence (business cards, badges, pay slips, etc.) attesting that he was called Antoine in his workplace.

After leaving Intergraph France in 2017, Mohamed Amghar decided to file a complaint against his former employer. His lawyer, Me Galina Elbaz, had approached the company in 2018 to request an amicable settlement. In response, the company’s management indicated that "we cannot exclude that Mr. Amghar may have been at the origin of this first name," stating they did not know the reasons for this name change. Mohamed then took the case to the labor court. After dismissing his case in 2022, the council ruled in his favor in early 2025. A decision that would be confirmed on appeal.

"The employer himself admits the use or addition of the first name Antoine on certain documents, a fact that is not disputable [...] The court notes that the employer does not explain the fact or reasons for the use of the first name Antoine alone or in addition in certain internal company documents and does not establish that this practice would stem from a request by Mr. Amghar," the Court of Appeal elaborates in its ruling. Consequently, the jurisdiction convicted Intergraph France for discrimination, moral harassment, and violation of privacy, and ordered them to pay about 30,000 euros in damages to Mohamed Amghar. "This is absolutely not dissuasive. For a company like that, which is a billion-dollar company, it’s little. It’s nothing, in fact..." laments the former employee.