Paris (AFP)

Carlos Ghosn faces his former employer Renault on Friday, through lawyers, to claim retirement compensation of 250,000 euros before the industrial tribunal of Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine).

The emergency hearing is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. No decision on the merits is expected during the day. If the case is retained, it will be argued and the decision deliberated within 15 days to a month.

The seizure of the industrial tribunal by Carlos Ghosn, revealed in January, caused several indignant reactions in a France in full debate on the pension reform and at the time when the car manufacturer Renault is in full crisis.

The diamond group has just announced that it plans to close factories after falling into the red last year for the first time since 2009.

The responsibility of Mr. Ghosn in the current difficulties of Renault was questioned Thursday by his predecessor Louis Schweitzer. "Its management was no longer adapted to the situation," he said on RTL radio.

- "Cynicism" -

"Not content with the social damage it has caused in the company and for the country, Carlos Ghosn intends to punctuate Renault employees again (...). Because ultimately, if the industrial tribunal should prove him right, ( the 250,000 euros he claims) would be deducted from the added value of the company created by the work of employees, "reacted the Renault CGT, accusing the former boss of" dishonesty "and" cynicism "in a press release .

The industrial tribunal hearing also comes as the Nanterre public prosecutor's office (Hauts-de-Seine) announced Wednesday that it had sent an investigative judge an investigation into suspicions of abuse of social goods at Renault targeting Carlos Ghosn.

Carlos Ghosn had been forced to leave his post as CEO of Renault on January 23, 2019, when he was in prison in Japan for various alleged embezzlements revealed by the Japanese manufacturer Nissan (of which he also chaired the board of directors).

In spring 2019, the 65-year-old former manager had taken steps to liquidate his retirement rights.

"He has benefited from the payment of this pension since June 1, 2019, both under the basic plan and the Agirc – Arrco plan," said his entourage. "However, despite (...) his repeated requests to (Renault), his retirement indemnity has still not been paid to him", more than a year after his departure.

- "Was Ghosn an employee?" -

On the Renault side, we consider that Mr. Ghosn is not entitled to this compensation since he had not been employed by the company for years.

The reference documents of the group with the diamond stipulate that one cannot combine the status of a corporate officer with an employment contract. However, Mr. Ghosn had this status as an agent since his appointment as CEO in 2005.

Defenders of Renault consider that the employment contract was therefore broken, while those of the manager believe that it was only suspended.

The deposed boss had been released on bail and placed under house arrest in Japan with a ban on leaving the country. But he had managed to flee the country at the end of the year to take refuge in Lebanon, believing that he would not have received a fair trial when he denied all the charges.

In early January, at a press conference in Beirut, Carlos Ghosn launched a counterattack. "I have rights vis-à-vis Nissan, vis-à-vis Renault, which have not been respected and I intend to claim them in court," he warned.

In addition to his retirement indemnity, Carlos Ghosn claims to Renault a "retirement-hat" for a gross amount of 774,774 euros per year as well as 380,000 shares, worth nearly 12 million euros at current prices, which were awarded to him between 2015 and 2018 as a reward for the constructor's good performance. On these two subjects, Carlos Ghosn threatened to seize a commercial court.

© 2020 AFP