Jean Philippe Grenet challenges dismissal after sexual harassment complaint

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Jean Philippe Grenet challenged his dismissal by Electronic Arts at a High Court hearing before Judge Tony O’Connor on 18 December 2018. He said he was first dismissed on 14 November 2018, following a complaint about a remark to a colleague.

Grenet sought to return to his role running Electronic Arts’ Irish office in Ballybrit, Co Galway. He had secured a temporary injunction stopping the company from dismissing him or appointing someone else to his role while his case was ongoing. The company contended that it was entitled to dismiss him.

The complaint concerned a remark during a video call with a female US-based colleague on 9 November 2018. The wording was disputed: it was alleged that Grenet had referred to putting his penis on the table to see who had the bigger one. Grenet said he had remarked that he did not want to compare its length with that of another colleague.

Grenet accepted that his wording was clumsy but said it was not intended literally. His barrister, Oisín Quinn SC, said Grenet was trying to convey that he did not want a petty dispute with the other colleague. Quinn argued that the speed and nature of the dismissal breached natural justice.

The proceedings were reported on 19 December 2018.

This case may have concluded differently. The outcome has not yet been confirmed by a public source we could find.