The owner of the walls of a brasserie in downtown Toulon appeared before the criminal court after a couple of tenants, operating the establishment, filed a complaint against him on January 11 for “moral harassment”.
Evoking a “psychological pressure” and “repeated remarks, giving lessons and intrusive”, the plaintiffs denounced the manner in which their landlord demanded unpaid rent from them.
The restaurateurs, whose establishment is located near the central police station, were able to count on the testimonies of two customers, a police officer and a lawyer, recounting vehement behavior when the owner of the walls had burst in on January 5 , in the coffee.
Crise Covid
“He came to revive the manager of the business for the payment of the rent (…) He continued his vociferations scaring away the customers”, portrayed the policeman. “The boss seemed very embarrassed, his wife was crying and seemed to be very shocked”completed the lawyer.
A few days after this episode, the couple went to see a general practitioner evaluating an anxiety injury at four days of total incapacity for work.
In support of their complaint, the managers of the brewery also produced the recording of a telephone conversation, in 2020, in which the respondent reproaches the restaurateur for his way of managing the establishment then faced with the difficulties linked to the Covid crisis (containment, etc.).
“Should all bankers be prosecuted?”
In front of the investigators, the fifty-year-old admitted that if his tenant was actually up to date with the payment of his rents, he did not hesitate either to revive him as soon as there was a delay. He planned to entrust the collection of rents to a real estate agency.
The alleged interference in the way the brewery is run? “A support”defended the owner.
The plaintiffs’ medical certificates? “They do not come from a medical examiner”, argues his lawyer. The former president M.e Michel Mas considers that the proof of “repeated words or behaviors”constituting the offense of moral harassment, has not been reported.
“My client simply wanted to deal with his credits. Should we prosecute his banker for harassment when he demands payment of a draft?”
The defendant was acquitted by the court.
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