Moroccan Expat Loses Job and Home After COVID-19 Travel Delay in France

The story of Brahim Kiou is that of thousands of men and women who have lost in this health crisis. This resident of Aubergenville (Yvelines) is having a hard time digesting the speed with which he went from the status of Team Leader in the company Etanco, a construction company located in the Elisabethville district, to that of unemployed and homeless. Fired at the end of August, he will also have to abandon on October 12 the housing that was allocated to him and that he occupies with his small family.

Thirty years of sacrifice and self-denial that are extinguished, thus carrying away a retirement plan and the peace of mind of an entire family. Brahim Kiou would give anything to go back to the beginning of last March, when he had decided to go to Morocco to attend the funeral of one of his relatives. He should have returned to France on March 19 and resume the course of his life. But his flight, like many others, was canceled due to the closure of borders. "I looked for a fallback solution but on March 20 the Moroccan authorities imposed a total lockdown. It had therefore become impossible to move around." To pass the time, he found refuge with relatives not far from Fez, reports Le Parisien.

Out of professional conscience and not knowing how long the confinement could last, Brahim Kiou decides to inform his employer of the situation. He claims to have done so in a telephone interview during which he explained that he was "stuck" in Morocco because of the coronavirus and that he was unable to resume his post on March 23 as planned. And as if that were not enough, his health problems resurface. Between his problems with high blood pressure and multiple sclerosis, he could only consult a doctor who prescribed him medication and a sick leave. "I called my workshop foreman again. I asked him to put me on partial unemployment but this was not done. And then, I no longer managed to reach my company. My phone line was cut off," he explains.

Between the deteriorating situation in Morocco and the threat of imminent unemployment, he finds himself between a rock and a hard place. Even if special flights were announced, it was impossible for the man to board. "I was able to make two bookings, but there were many requests and as the takeoffs were done drop by drop, I could only succeed at the end of August," he says.

It was not until August 27 that Brahim Kiou managed to return home after about five months of absence. The bad news was waiting for him in his mailbox. After facing the harshness of confinement and its consequences, he had to face his dismissal "for abandonment of post" in a letter sent two weeks earlier. "I was shocked. The company knew I was stuck in Morocco," he says dejectedly. After receiving confirmation of his dismissal, he approached the CGT to challenge the procedure. While he was trying to find ways to overcome what happened to him, he received the information that he had to leave the company housing that had been assigned to him to monitor the site in case the alarms were triggered, specifies Le Parisien.

The Etanco company says it has nothing to reproach itself for. The managers mention "a breakdown of contact" with their employee. "It was impossible for us to understand Mr. Kiou’s behavior. We tried to reach him many times. He had a company phone in perfect working order and a telephone subscription paid for by the company," the company’s management reacted. "We told him that the situation was unacceptable and that it was necessary for him to justify this absence," the company indicates. The company claims that an unjustified absence is an abandonment of post.

Brahim Kiou has called on a lawyer to help him settle what he calls unfair dismissal. He does not intend to leave the company housing. For him, it is inhumane to fire him and throw him onto the street without any valid explanation. The labor court must consider the case on November 2.