In two court cases of France it was reported on 9 January 2013 that a failure to provide the required notice period with respect to a group restructuring may provide a cause of action for an award of compensation for unfair termination of a commercial relationship.
The cases are:
• Court of Appeal of Paris, 5th Chamber (Cour d’appel de Paris, 5ème Chambre) No. 08/19944 (20 September 2012)
• Supreme Court, Commercial Chamber (Cour de Cassation, Chambre de Commerce) No. 11-24.570 (6 November 2012)
The Paris Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, Commercial Chamber concluded that a contractually agreed notice period must be fully applied unless it can be shown that there are grounds for an exception, such as an inability to perform the contractual obligations.
