Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Management and Its PR Team a Den of Liars, Even Lying to Their Own Staff

I did not have... to tolerate people who speak about my abuses.

Clinton did not have...



Summary: A closer look at the nonsensical prose used to justify the firing of staff representatives rather than those whom they complained about

THE EPO is so scandalous that long ago it gave up pretending that it can be trusted. Why are some journalists still swallowing all the lies from the EPO?



After reportedly lying to its staff, we're seriously left wondering why any journalists at all are willing to believe the EPO's PR team (backed by an American PR firm with an EPO budget of nearly $1 million per year), let aside Battistelli whose name goes at the bottom of many ludicrous statements that the EPO's PR team keeps linking to (even several times per day and even one week later).

The letter which we showed here beforehand, demonstrating how the EPO's PR team characterises staff union busting as "social dialogue" or "union recognition" (spreading this lie to the media at the moment) was, according to our source, "sent before the three officials were "liquidated"."

Now we have the following "communiqué" with Battistelli's name at the bottom (maybe it's ghostwritten by his department and just signed by him):

Home -> Organisation -> President -> The President -> Announcements -> 2016

Communiqué 2/2016

15.01.2016

Outcome of disciplinary procedures

Dear colleagues,

Last November, I informed you that instances of anti-social and unlawful misconduct concerning a few employees had been established (see Communiqué. 17.11.2015).

Disciplinary procedures were launched and I have now received the opinions of the three disciplinary committees composed of representatives nominated by the management and the staff representation. The disciplinary committees concerned have unanimously considered that the cases involved very serious breaches, justifying high sanctions, including dismissal.

Before taking my decisions, I have paid great attention to the fact that the employees involved are staff representatives who enjoy a higher level of protection and freedom of expression, having in mind their particular duties. It must be underlined that these cases relate to personal failures of the employees and have nothing to do with the social dialogue and staff representative activities. The status of staff representatives or union leaders can not avoid personal liability.

The charges relate to the active participation in the very damaging defamation campaign against the Organisation, the EPO management and individual staff members; to direct threats and coercion expressed against staff members and staff representatives; and to undue financial and moral pressure against EPO employees. Moreover, pressure has been brought against witnesses during the investigations and repetitive disclosures of confidential material have occurred, some linked to the security and safety of the Office and its staff.

In addition to the disrespect shown towards the Organisation and its legal framework, the respondents, prior and during the procedures, disregarded systematically the applicable rules and persisted in their behaviour despite several reminders. They showed a complete lack of awareness concerning the consequences of their unlawful actions and a surprising lack of empathy towards the victims, which is impossible to overlook. None of them acknowledged their wrongdoings, nor did they express their intention not to repeat them.

An employment relationship is based on trust, loyalty and respect of a corpus of rules. Any employee, including staff representatives and union leaders, has to act in the interest of the Organisation and according to its rules, as confirmed by the consistent case law of the ILOAT. After considering all the facts and individual actions, high sanctions, including dismissal in two cases, are justified and proportionate.

Benoît Battistelli President


Having just published the text of the EPO internal communiqué, now it's time to respond to it by basically rewriting it as follows:

Home -> Organisation -> President -> The President -> Announcements -> 2016

Communiqué 2/2016

15.01.2016

Outcome of mock trials

Dear slaves,

Last November, I informed you that instances of whistle-blowing against my unlawful misconduct concerning a few employees had been established (see Communiqué. 17.11.2015).

Mock trials were duly launched and I have now received the opinions of the three disciplinary committees composed of representatives nominated by the management and the staff representation. I ignored these opinions, as they were designed to just give the illusion of peer judgment, then rewrote everything and exacerbated the judgment/punishment for I am a clue-ful autocrat. The disciplinary committees concerned have unanimously considered that the cases involved very serious acts of whistle-blowing, justifying high sanctions, which I made even more severe because they embarrassed me.

Before taking my personal decisions, for here we have an autocracy, not a meritocracy or a democracy, I have paid great attention to the fact that the employees involved are charismatic and popular so they enjoy a higher level of protection and freedom of expression, having in mind their particular threat to my undisclosed (but astronomical) annual salary. It must be underlined that these cases relate to personal failures of my regime which has nothing to do with social dialogue and actively denies staff representative activities. The status of staff representatives or union leaders cannot expose abuse at the managerial ranks. Me and my homies have immunity and impunity.

The charges relate to the active participation in the very damaging (to my reputation) whistle-blowing campaign. It dares to mention the Organisation, the EPO management and individual staff members; to misinterpreted jokes and disagreement expressed against staff members and staff representatives; and to undue financial and moral pressure against managers. Moreover, pressure has been brought against managers of the mock trial during the mock trial and repetitive disclosures of confidential material about a secretive mock trial have occurred, some linked to the perceived (by me) security and safety of the Office and my homies.

In addition to the disrespect shown towards the abusive management and its illegal framework, the respondents, prior and during the procedures, disregarded systematically my unjust rules and persisted in their behaviour despite several reminders. They showed a complete lack of awareness concerning the consequences of their free speech and a surprising lack of empathy towards the accusers, which is impossible to overlook. None of them acknowledged my accusations or accepted guilt, nor did they express their intention not to ignore me.

An employment relationship is based on trust, loyalty and respect of a corpus of rules. Any employee, including a President, has to act in the interest of the Organisation and according to its rules, as confirmed by the consistent case law of the ILOAT. After considering all the facts and individual actions -- actions that showed I had been repeatedly ignoring rules, not acting in the interest of the Organisation and according to its rules, as confirmed by the consistent case law of the ILOAT -- I decided I must shoot the messengers. High sanctions, including dismissal in two cases, are necessary to protect my monarchy. Long live Team Battistelli!

Benoît Battistelli Sun King


"In the Hardon dismissal letter," one person told us, "there is a clear allusion to the [actions against a judge] and an admission that spyware is installed on PCs." That letter too was signed by Battistelli. This isn't just an autocrat but a vicious and merciless one. Battistelli is not even being honest to his own staff!

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it.”

--Mark Twain



Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 06/07/2025: Climate Change and "The Right to Criticise"
Links for the day
The Mainstream Media Took 4 Days to Realise Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan and Fired Everybody
We estimate that Microsoft has had about 29,000 layoffs since January
“Twibel” Actions Against Comedians (and Why It's a Truly Low Blow)
they try to make up in quantities for a lack of merit or quality
 
Links 06/07/2025: End to End Encryption at Risk, Reuters Twitter ("X") Account Withheld in India
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/07/2025: Tinylog and Certification Rotation
Links for the day
PCLinuxOS Sites Coming Back, Gradually
let's just be patient
Social Control Media, Even If Based on Free Software, Still Has Many Problems
a distraction from what actually mattered and still matters
IBM is Not Your Master
IBM makes friends with people who exclude the majority of the population: women
Help Fund the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
If you have some dollars to spare, go support the FSF
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 05, 2025
A Short History of Attacks on Techrights (and Boycott Novell Before That)
good opportunity to tell again the story of several (not all) attempts to silence us
Leadership in Free Software
Don't let IBM lead. It's a terrible flag bearer.
Linux Foundation Apparently Flirting With Slop (Marketing by LLM-Generated SPAM)
The Web is in a really bad state!
COVID-19 Sped Up Site Improvements in Techrights
A few months later we created our very own IRC network
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: Negative Questions and 'Touching Grass' (Going Outside)
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Dalai Lama Succession as 90th Birthday Approaches, 40 deg C in China
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Hungary and US Defecting to Russia, "Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: 4th of July 2025 and "Zig Roadmap 2026"
Links for the day
How to Combat the Exploitation and Abuse by Microsoft GitHub
Not to mention corruption and crimes against women
Bryan Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People
"[Lunduke] is actually sending his audience to attack people."
Even The Right Wing is Rejecting Bryan Lunduke
no wonder he became so irrelevant and marginal
Microsoft's MSN Helps Microsoft Spread Lies About the Layoffs' Scale (Well Over 25,000 People Laid Off This Year)
There seem to be monopolies on lies and on truth
The Death of X Has Been Greatly Exaggerated (by Compromised Media)
X.Org Server is alive and well
Rewriting Things in Rust
How far would you go?
In 2025 Everything is "AI". Remember Blockchains?
Talk about what companies and things (services, products, software) actually do, not the labels they use
Julian Assange Has Been Free for a Year
Julian Assange and I disagreed on some things
Monopolies and Scalping
Monopolies gravitate towards price hikes
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 04, 2025
Microsoft's August Layoffs Wave: "August is Confirmed for Additional Performance Based Cuts"
"August is confirmed for additional performance based cuts from the recent connects along with additional organizational cuts."
What Microsoft Reputation Laundering (With a Weaponised Law Degree) Looks Like in a Foreign Continent
You would expect this in uncivilised and primitive countries
Slopwatch: LLMs 'Write' Fake or Distorted 'News' About "Linux"
LLM slop disguised as news
Links 04/07/2025: Google Replaces the Web With Slop, "AI Might Kill Us All"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: Mindfulness and F1
Links for the day
Weeks After Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia the Company Shuts Down in Pakistan, Too
Last month Windows' share in Pakistan fell to an all-time low
Rob Musial's June 2025 Additions of Malware in Proprietary Software
Via the GNU Web site this week
Links 04/07/2025: Microsoft's H-1B Visa Applications Show Another Crisis Unfolding, Many More Deep Cuts and Shutdowns Revealed, Complete Microsoft Exits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: A Day To Remember and "Stop Killing Games"
Links for the day
Crime and Corruption at Microsoft GitHub Cannot be Covered Up by SLAPPs in Another Continent
We'll write about this for a long time to come
Slop Videos Are Disappointing Garbage, Nothing New, Just Brute Force up on Display or a Pedestal of Slop
Slop videos aren't a new thing
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 03, 2025
The War on Local Storage (People Hosting Their Files Locally and Privately)
There's nothing wrong with controlling one's computing
What Digital Independence Means
Independence in the digital realms means abandoning platforms like GitHub, not just rejecting proprietary software
NVidia is a Bubble
they temporarily see fortunes and wrongly assume perpetuity thereof
Fedora Does Not Care About Diversity and Inclusion, It's About Optics (Corporate Image)
any notion of inclusion is superficial and misleading
Don't Buy the Excuses for Microsoft's Mass Layoffs
Back in the 90s, Microsoft bought a lot of companies to get and stay ahead