France’s labour ministry in October 2026 issued a reprimand and a 15-day suspension to two labour inspectors in Grenoble who belong to SUD-Travail. Le Monde’s Saturday 17 October headline used “insubordination”. Management accused them of an aggressive attitude towards colleagues, of challenging decisions from Paris and of refusing some meetings and databases. The inspectors reject the charges and call the case a “gag procedure” after they criticised working conditions.

France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes wrote that a criminal complaint by the control unit for moral harassment was dropped: prosecutors said harassment was not made out, but noted a “very complex, even deleterious” situation in the service. The drop is not a ruling on the administrative case.

The 15 September disciplinary board had proposed a reprimand and a disciplinary transfer. The CGT, CNT, FSU and SUD unions said the ministry then lowered that to a reprimand and 15 days’ suspension, after a five-week strike. They call the outcome a provisional “first victory” and say they will go to the administrative court.

The inspectors’ surnames are not repeated here. The sanctions are administrative and contested, not a criminal conviction. This article does not judge the labour dispute on the merits.

Image: Sami Mlouhi, Grenoble city hall, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive building, not the labour inspectorate.

Sources consulted: Deux inspecteurs du travail de Grenoble sanctionnés pour insubordination — Le Monde; Un blâme et une suspension à l’encontre de deux inspecteurs du travail de Grenoble — France 3.