Carlos Ghosn attacks Renault at the industrial tribunal. The former boss of the Renault-Nissan group, prosecuted in Japan for embezzlement and now on the run in Lebanon, has launched a legal battle against the automaker. He claims nearly 800,000 euros in annual pensions and 15 million in shares.
The 65-year-old leader, forced to retire because of his legal setbacks, has initiated the first proceedings before the tribunal responsible for social affairs, the labor courts, and is preparing a second before a commercial court.
"Hat retreat" and share bonus
The conflict concerns the conditions of his departure from the company. Believing that Carlos Ghosn had resigned from his post on January 23, 2019, while he was imprisoned in Japan for various alleged embezzlement, Renault had announced that the Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian businessman was losing his rights to a "retirement- hat "for a gross amount of 774,774 euros per year.
To claim this pension, Carlos Ghosn had to be still present as a corporate officer at the time of asserting his retirement rights. The board of directors of the diamond group had also estimated that the former CEO had lost his rights to the shares that had been allocated to him between 2015 and 2018 as a reward for the constructor's good performance. However, Carlos Ghosn, he denies having resigned.
Resignation or retirement?
"Given in particular his arrest in Japan in November 2018", Carlos Ghosn "was forced, on January 23, 2019, to inform Renault of his decision to permanently leave the company, in order to retire," says his defense.
In this battle of jurists, "everything will depend on the interpretation of a resignation or not of Carlos Ghosn", confirmed to AFP Charles Pinel, from the consulting firm to investors Proxinvest. A hearing is scheduled "late February".
Carlos Ghosn and Renault therefore seem at the very beginning of a long legal battle. "I have rights vis-à-vis Nissan, vis-à-vis Renault, which have not been respected, and I intend to claim them in court," warned Carlos Ghosn last Wednesday during a press conference in Beirut. "It was said that in January (2019), I resigned from Renault, which is wrong," he said, speaking of "forfeiture".
With AFP
Newsletter Don't miss anything from international news
Don't miss anything from international newssubscribe
google-play-badge_FR