A model employee at Lidl for twenty-seven years, Catherine Lucas committed suicide in September 2021. Her brother, Michael Le Bellec, speaks for the first time in “Cash Investigation” and questions Lidl about its management methods. Excerpt from the special program “Ten years of revelations”, to be seen on March 16 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2.
In 2022, Lidl launched the “Much more than a job” communication campaign to improve the image of its employer brand. Focused on well-being at work, it gave voice to the relatives of some of its employees, who praised the pride of working in the brand and the respect for private life. According to this ad, Lidl employees are now happy and fulfilled…
“Cash Investigation” decided to contact the relative of a former employee and went to Brittany to meet Michael Le Bellec, the brother of Catherine Lucas. At Lidl, the latter was a model employee. In twenty-seven years, she had gone from cashier to store manager. And yet, at the age of 49, on September 7, 2021, this mother of two children committed suicide. She drowned after ingesting drugs and alcohol. Michael Le Bellec speaks for the first time and questions in particular the management methods of the retail brand.
“Five years are not enough to change your management methods”
Filmed during a family meal, he says: “Catherine, she was proud to work at Lidl, she emancipated herself, she grew up at Lidl. She was very grateful… But today, during family meals, there is an empty glass: that of Catherine who ended her life.
This drama recalls another. In 2017, “Cash Investigation” had met Nicolas Sansonetti. His brother Yannick, a 33-year-old maintenance technician, also committed suicide at his workplace, a Lidl warehouse in Bouches-du-Rhône. A case that resonates for Michael Le Bellec and the “strongly upsets”. That was over five years ago. “Five years later, it’s huge. It’s not enough, five years, to change its management methods…“, he asks.
“Cash Investigation” also contacted Lidl. The brand refused the principle of the interview and replied in writing: “The death of Mrs. Lucas, who had twenty-seven years of seniority at Lidl, has deeply affected the whole company.”
Extract from “Ten years of revelations”, a special program of “Cash Investigation” broadcast on Thursday March 16, 2023 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2.
> Replays of France Télévisions news magazines are available on the Franceinfo website and its mobile application (iOS & Android), “Magazines” section.