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25 November 2016Patents

Prunier responds to EPO claims

Laurent Prunier, former elected member of the central staff committee and secretary of the Staff Union of the European Patent Office (SUEPO) in The Hague, has responded to statements made by the European Patent Office (EPO).

Earlier this month, Prunier was dismissed. He had been accused of harassment and defamation, but denied the claims.

Yesterday, November 24, WIPR  reported staff members were holding a demonstration to show solidarity with “dismissed, downgraded and targeted staff representatives and SUEPO officials”.

Now Prunier has responded to a number of assertions made by a spokesperson for the EPO, stating that they presented a number of “incorrect facts”.

According to Prunier, the EPO’s spokesperson has no access to the investigation reports and to the disciplinary files, as they are confidential, meaning that they are in no position to certify that “all the rules were followed”.

The spokesperson had said that the disciplinary procedures were conducted according to the EPO’s rules, and that the procedures “compare favourably to other international organisations such as the EU and the UN”.

They added that the procedures are “fully in line with the European Social Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, according to a study from PwC published at the end of September 2016”.

However, Prunier has claimed that the PwC study says nothing of the kind, and only concludes that “the EPO’s internal rules match some benchmarks of other international organisations (thus, not necessarily comparing favourably)”.

He added that the benchmarks were “cherry-picked to the advantage of the EPO”.

In Febuary last year, the Court of Appeal of the Netherlands held (in Dutch) that the EPO must ban certain provisions relating to strikes, stop blocking SUEPO emails, and allow the union to enter into collective bargaining.

“The EPO has challenged the jurisdiction of the court to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, insisting on its immunity, but the finding of breach of human rights is a matter of record and can no longer be expunged,” said Prunier.

Prunier has also said that the disciplinary committee actually consists of two members appointed by the staff representation, two members appointed by the president and a chairperson.

“It is remarkable that in years long past, the chair was appointed from the Boards of Appeal, so from personnel not directly under the hierarchical line of the president. Benoît Battistelli has changed this, appointing subordinates to the post,” he said.

Yesterday, the EPO’s spokesperson said that the disciplinary committee was composed of equal numbers of representatives of the management and the staff.

Additionally Prunier provided the following comments, which he had previously sent to IAM:

“1. I deny having ever harassed or defamed anyone (nor have I seen any of my fellow colleagues, staff reps and/or SUEPO officials harassing or defaming anyone).

2. The alleged "victim" did NOT file a complaint against me. The person who filed it was a very close associate of Battistelli.

3. The staff representatives in the disciplinary committee have not found that I was guilty of harassment. That finding was 3:2, only by management side.

4. The easiest solution for the public to assess the truth vs. story-telling is for Battistelli to lift the confidentiality he imposes on me and I will gladly publish all the documents.”

The EPO declined to comment.

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24 November 2016   Staff members at the European Patent Office are holding a demonstration today in the centre of The Hague in support of dismissed workers.
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15 December 2016   Some staff members at the European Patent Office held another demonstration yesterday with the support of several EU-based staff unions.