11.04.16
In the Case of Frenchman Laurent Prunier, Battistelli Reasserts Himself as Psychopathic Bully
If this is how Battistelli mistreats his own countryman, imagine what he would do to others whom he habitually associates with Nazism
Summary: Insecure President of the EPO unleashes his paranoid instincts at yet another staff representative, exploiting a thoroughly broken system that made him an unaccountable, dangerous, violent autocrat like Kim Jong-un or Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
SOME PEOPLE wrongly believed (or hoped) that things were quieting down at the EPO, but Battistelli and his goons were only quieting evil and clandestinely malicious. They have been planning union-busting actions not just in Munich but also in The Hague (someone leaked today's internal announcement to us), their second target. We recently learned that a third site too might already be targeted. It’s not hard to see what Battistelli is trying to accomplish. He needs scapegoats everywhere. Podesta E-mail leaks, for example, even include an E-mail where Mr. Podesta himself admits that they need to punish someone innocent (accusing him/her of leaks) just to scare the others and create terror/paranoia. So why pick on Prunier? Because he’s prominent. They make an example out of him. Can he sue them over it? Well, the EPO is virtually above the law and ILO has no backbone. Battistelli exploits this situation to capitalise on his perceive immunity/impunity. For those who are not familiar with Prunier’s case, here are some of our prior posts that mentioned or alluded to him:
- Battistelli is Even Attacking the French, and Not Just in Germany But Also on Dutch Territory
- Battistelli is Creating an Atmosphere of Terror at the EPO While Exploiting Terror Attacks to Garner Sympathy
- No Exaggeration Necessary: the EPO Under Benoît Battistelli Has North Korean Standards of ‘Justice’
- The Next Phase of Union Busting: Battistelli Now Cutting Salaries of Yet More EPO Staff Representatives
- Benoît Battistelli is Putting More EPO Staff Representatives in Front of His Firing Line
- Željko Topić Tries to Do to EPO Staff What He Did in Croatia, Now Crushes Staff Assembly in The Hague
We never spoke to Prunier, but with over a thousand disgruntled colleagues of his at The Hague it’s hardly surprising that we occasionally hear from them. They’re rightly furious and afraid as they know they too could be next in the firing line, even if they’re innocent. Eponia is a lawless place and it’s rather ironic that a place like The Hague still tolerates such lawlessness (but it does!).
“Today is such a sad day for me,” wrote one person to us from The Hague, “as I can’t stop thinking about Laurent Prunier. He is such an honest and good man. Very passionate about his job as a SUEPO Representative moreover he is a real pro in public relations. It’s heartbreaking seeing a guy like him getting literally destroyed by those reckless barbarians.”
Battistelli doesn’t seem to understand that he’s stirring up a hornet’s nest each time he attacks staff representatives. As someone from The Hague put it today, “we will fight for him and all the others.”
What’s interesting about Prunier’s case (as we mentioned before) is that here we have a Frenchman attacking a Frenchman. Battistelli has no loyalty, sympathy or empathy to anyone, yet he expects everyone — even his Chinchillas at the Administrative Council — to have blind faith and loyalty to him. If not, he’s willing to even stab his own ‘friends’ at the back (see the case of Roland Grossenbacher). Hence our headline “psychopathic bully”. Battistelli is merciless, selfish, clueless and highly abusive. He’s the model of a boss that’s intended to take down an organisation/company/institution. It’s almost as though his goal is to make the EPO fail and collapse. If that’s his objective, then he’s doing a sterling job!
Incidentally, earlier tonight Kieren McCarthy of The Register (Britain’s largest publication in this area) published an article about Prunier, aptly preceded by the same old picture of Battistelli as emperor (which is not a compliment). To quote the opening paragraphs:
President of the European Patent Office Benoit Battistelli has fired a key member of his organization’s staff union despite being explicitly told not to by the EPO’s Administrative Council.
Laurent Prunier was secretary of SUEPO (Staff Union of the European Patent Office) and a member of its central staff committee, and is one of three union members that have spent over a year under investigation and going through disciplinary procedures because they resisted Battistelli’s reform efforts.
Although some of those reforms were deemed necessary, the staff union’s resistance to a number of questionable changes sparked an extraordinary effort by EPO management to silence critics, which has in turn resulted in numerous strikes, heavy media and political criticism, and repeated calls for Battistelli’s resignation.
There is also this fairly new article in French about the situation at the EPO. Any translations would help. The opening paragraph says:
La situation de conflit entre la direction de l’OEB -Office européen des Brevets- et son personnel est inadmissible et cela fait déjà plusieurs mois que des échanges ont lieu avec Bercy pour remédier à cette situation.
The EPO is no safe place to work in; it’s unsafe. There’s no work security or long-term contract, not even if one is French, unless one is a French crony of Battistelli who also continues to maintain 100% “yes man” status. The EPO is now an autocracy and the vision of the EPO is a place with no unions (except yellow ones with “yes men”) and unions whose Web site is mostly silent and communication to members is covert, probably skirting the unreasonably oppressive rules of the Office. The EPO used to be a top employer; right now it should become a contender in the ladder for “worst employer” (in Europe or internationally, including countries like China and North Korea). It may sound unbelievable or like a gross exaggeration… until one actually speaks to workers and looks at the polls. It’s almost as if Battistelli hopes to drive the good workers away (unrealistic expectations), only to replace them with 'cheaper' and more obedient workers that stamp almost everything. █
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