justice decides once again in favor of Jérôme Pernoo
After overturning a year-long layoff, the Administrative Court suspended the dismissal of the cellist entangled in a case of alleged sexual assault and harassment.
Jérôme Pernoo against the Paris Conservatoire, end of the third act. The administrative court of Paris on Wednesday June 22 suspended the licensee by the National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris (CNSMDP) of the musician and cello teacher accused of sexual assault by two former students, including a minor at the time. facts. After two first suspensions of four months in the spring and then in the fall of 2021, Jérôme Pernoo had been the subject of a third layoff in December, followed in May by a dismissal procedure without notice or compensation.
Read alsoHellfest: the crowd movements of metalheads studied by science
“The nightmare is overJérôme Pernoo reacted on Wednesday to France Music. All my students wanted me back and did not understand these accusations. They have also formed with a lawyer, who pleaded for my return at the time of the hearing. The CNSMDP deplored the court’s decision and is considering “to exercise the necessary remedies against the suspension of the dismissal”. The Parisian institution also called for the case to be dealt with ” as soon as possible “.
Three suspensions, two internal investigations
The soap opera, which opposes the cellist at the CNSMDP, has been stretching for more than a year. Informed in March 2021 of two reports of sexual assault targeting Jérôme Pernoo, under contract with the establishment since 2007, the Paris Conservatory notified the Paris prosecutor’s office, which then opened a preliminary investigation for sexual assault on a minor. The Conservatory also launched an internal investigation, named to the Egaé group, founded by Caroline De Haas and Pauline Chabbert. Summoned in June 2021 before an advisory commission to the Ministry of Culture, the musician had received a one-year suspension decided by the management of the CNSMDP.
This disciplinary sanction was quashed on December 7 by the administrative court of Paris, due to “the irregularity of the composition of the disciplinary board” of the CNSMDP and the “lack of impartiality of the administrative investigation” led by the Egaé group. Reinstated, then again suspended the same month by the establishment, the cellist was the subject of a second internal investigation, this time appointed to a new cabinet.
Read alsoThe indefatigable gentleman Paul McCartney enchants the Glastonbury Festival
This new investigation did not make it possible to prove the alleged attacks. However, she pointed out “in an objective and impartial manner behaviors that are perfectly incompatible with (the) function of teacher”, asserted the Conservatory. The dismissal procedure carried out five months later was thus deemed abusive by the urgent applications judge of the Paris administrative court, for the same reasons given in December, namely “a serious doubt as to (the) legality (of the decision) in view of its disproportionate nature”.
The CNSMDP’s disputes with the cello teacher were made public on June 8, 2021 by a Mediapart survey. Jérôme Pernoo, 50, would have had “regular physical contact with his students which goes beyond the gestures necessary for learning the cello, such as in particular kisses and hugs made“, in the words of the administrative court of Paris. The presumed, attributed facts are added to “proposals with a sexual connotation, in particular in the form of contrepèteries”, would date from 2005, for one of the alleged victims, and from 2009 to 2013 for the second. The teacher, who denies all the accusations, is supported by some of his students and parents of students. Meanwhile, the preliminary investigation of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office continues in the shadows, far from the conflictual waltz between the CNSMDP and the cellist.