French authorities are investigating possible cases of harassment linked to several suicides and suicide attempts that have occurred in recent months among employees of French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s administration, the press revealed today.
Public radio station France Inter reported that the investigation was opened in June through a mechanism provided for in the Penal Code that allows an employee to report suspected criminal conduct to the public prosecutor’s office. That procedure was joined by a complaint filed on June 25 by an employee of the department.
The employee, identified by France Inter under the pseudonym Laura to protect her anonymity, attempted suicide in April at a train station near her home, throwing herself onto the tracks, but was stopped by another passenger at the last moment.
Laura, who had written her will four months earlier to organize her own funeral, was ultimately hospitalized in late April due to suicide risk, days after being notified of disciplinary proceedings related to having listed a coworker on e-commerce platforms with insulting descriptions. She apologized for the act, and according to the occupational physician who examined her, her behavior was linked to psychological distress associated with her work.
Read more: Wildfires: Is it safe to travel to France and Spain right now?
The employee’s attorney, Christelle Mazza, told the radio station that the situation had been ongoing for 16 months. According to the attorney, the employee, who had more than 30 years of seniority and worked in the prime minister’s correspondence department, had been made invisible, was no longer invited to work meetings, and had been placed in a basement office, isolated from the rest of the team.
According to France Inter, the case is not isolated: over seven months, the same administration saw two suicides and two suicide attempts.
On October 6, 2025, an employee of the Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information injured himself in the neck with a blade, though an external investigation concluded there were no psychosocial risks within that particular department.
In March 2026, another employee died by suicide at his home, where he was working remotely, following a particularly tense meeting with his supervisor over the disappearance of several miniature bottles of alcohol, in what an internal document cited by France Inter described as a context of management dysfunction.
Read more: About 3,000 Portuguese residents live in the area hit by France’s Gironde wildfire. Temperatures near 40 degrees are expected this week
A few days later, another employee, 59, who had frequently been on medical leave, died by suicide by throwing himself under a train, in a context of identified workplace suffering. He had left a message announcing his intention to end his life.
According to Sébastien Lecornu’s office, preventing psychosocial risks is a priority within the services under his authority.
Political instability in France has meant that, over two years, the country has had four governments, led by as many prime ministers: Gabriel Attal, Michel Barnier, François Bayrou and Sébastien Lecornu.
According to a workers’ representative cited by the radio station, this instability has direct consequences on the functioning of the administration, with constant changes and tensions likely to worsen already delicate situations within certain departments.
