What Does This Man Have to Do to Get Fired?

Kerviel cost SocGen $7.2B, but law says he can't be sacked—yet
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2008 11:27 AM CST
What Does This Man Have to Do to Get Fired?
Plainclothed police officers carry bags after searching the home of Jerome Kerviel's brother Olivier, Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008 in Paris. French bank Societe Generale kept its embattled CEO and promised a thorough probe of huge trading losses blamed on a single trader, Jerome Kerviel, while the country's...   (Associated Press)

Make no mistake, Société Générale would like to fire Jérôme Kerviel, the rogue trader who cost the bank $7.2 billion. But under French labor laws, he can’t be dismissed without a formal sit-down to discuss his employer's problems with his performance. That will be tough, because a judge has forbidden Kerviel to have any contact with the bank, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"This is not like America or England," says a French labor lawyer. "We have rules that protect employees, no matter what they do wrong." What's more, none of Kerviel’s bosses at SocGen has gotten the sack, either. The non-dismissal does put Kerviel in a bind: The company has stopped paying him, but until he’s formally fired, he can’t receive unemployment benefits. (More Jérôme Kerviel stories.)

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