The Rennes administrative court annulled, in a judgment rendered on October 30, 2026, the dismissal for serious misconduct of Étienne Bernard, director of the Fonds régional d’art contemporain (Frac) Bretagne since 2019. The magistrates believe that the decision taken on May 4 by the board of directors of this public cultural cooperation establishment (EPCC) did not sufficiently specify the facts justifying the sanction. They order his reinstatement with retroactive effect to June 1, 2026, within two months of notification of the judgment. This cancellation does not relate to the merits of the accusations made against the director, which are also the subject of a criminal investigation.
The affair broke out on October 30, 2025, following the publication on the Instagram account #MeToo.ArtContemporain of an anonymous testimony. A former art student claimed to have been sexually assaulted in 2008, at the age of 18, by a teacher who had since become director of a Frac. The testimony did not name Étienne Bernard, who then taught art theory at the University of Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. On November 21, accusing inscriptions appeared on the facades of Frac Bretagne, in Rennes. Étienne Bernard decided to step back from his duties.
The president of the Frac, Madeleine Louarn, had mandated the Égaé group, specializing in the prevention of gender-based and sexual violence, to collect testimonies and conduct an internal investigation. A first report, submitted on February 4, 2026, then a disciplinary report dated April 3, reported, according to the press release issued by the establishment, “serious facts” attributed to the director by corroborating testimonies. On May 4, the board of directors unanimously voted for his dismissal, considering that the nature, number and seriousness of the reported actions made his continued employment impossible. Étienne Bernard contested the accusations as well as the conditions of the investigation and took the case to the administrative court.
An insufficiently reasoned decision
In his appeal, Étienne Bernard cited in particular the lack of impartiality of the investigation, the non-respect of the rights of the defense, the absence of evidence and the disproportionate nature of the sanction. But the court accepts only one argument: the insufficient motivation of the deliberations of the board of directors.
This referred to an “unprofessional and overbearing posture”, sexist, discriminatory or insulting comments and behavior, repeated denigrating behavior and sexist and sexual attacks. For judges, this enumeration of categories of facts does not make it possible to precisely determine the actions used to characterize the serious faults of which the director is accused.
The court emphasizes that the two investigation reports were indeed annexed to the decision and transmitted to the person concerned. But this referral is not enough, especially since the reports “diverge on certain points”. There is no way to know whether the board of directors intended to take up all of their conclusions or only part of them. The deliberation thus ignores the obligation to provide reasons for administrative sanctions provided for by the code of relations between the public and the administration.
The magistrates therefore annulled the revocation without examining the merits of the other arguments raised. They comment neither on the materiality of the accusations, nor on the regularity of the internal investigation, nor on the proportionality of the sanction.
Reintegration imposed on the Frac
The judgment forces Frac Bretagne to reinstate Étienne Bernard in his functions with effect from June 1, which implies regularization of his administrative situation and his financial rights. His management contract normally runs until June 30, 2027. A possible appeal to the Nantes administrative court of appeal would not automatically suspend the execution of the judgment.
This decision does not, however, prohibit the board of directors from initiating a new disciplinary procedure, provided that it respects the procedural guarantees and provides precise reasons for a possible new sanction. As the court did not dismiss the alleged facts, their legal characterization remains likely to be examined in the context of new litigation.
At the same time, the criminal procedure remains distinct. Following a report made by Madeleine Louarn on the basis of article 40 of the code of criminal procedure, the Rennes public prosecutor’s office announced, on May 6, 2026, the opening of an investigation into moral harassment, sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape, with the aggravating circumstance of abuse of authority linked to the functions exercised. The cancellation of the administrative revocation has no direct consequence on this investigation.
