Crisis at French Prime Minister’s Office

France’s prime minister’s administrative services said on August 5 that key facts were “significantly different” from allegations tied to two suicides, two suicide attempts and a suspicious death inside the administration attached to Matignon, the prime minister’s office. Paris prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry after a June 25 report and complaint alleging psychological harassment and endangering another person. France Inter first reported the case on August 3, and LCP and AFP later reported Matignon’s response. The inquiry centers on the Services du Premier ministre, or SPM, a cluster of about 50 secretariats, directorates, missions and independent authorities that support the head of government. France Inter reported that the services employ about 4,000 people and that three internal investigations were already under way before the latest public response from Matignon. (radiofrance.fr) ### What exactly triggered the prosecutor’s inquiry? A June 25 report to the Paris prosecutor alleged “harcèlement moral” and “mise en danger d’autrui” after a civil servant in the prime minister’s correspondence service tried to kill herself, according to France Inter and RTL. The woman also filed a complaint for psychological harassment the same day, and the Paris prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation handled by the Brigade de répression de la délinquance à la personne, RTL reported. (radiofrance.fr) France Inter said the employee, identified only as Laura, had worked in the correspondence service since 2022 and saw her situation deteriorate after management changes at the end of 2023. Her lawyer, Christelle Mazza, told the broadcaster her client had been removed from meetings and the organization chart, isolated in a basement office and publicly mocked. (radiofrance.fr) ### Which incidents are investigators looking at? France Inter reported that two agents from different services died by suicide in March 2026 and that two other people tried to kill themselves in recent months, including one on her workplace premises. RTL, citing the June 25 report, said the filing also referred to a suspicious death — a person found dead in a toilet — and dated the broader sequence of incidents to October 2025. (radiofrance.fr) LCP said the allegations now under review include two suicide attempts, two suicides and one suspicious death inside the administration. Outlook India, citing Radio France, LCP and the Paris prosecutor’s office, reported the same overall outline of the case. ### How is Matignon contesting the allegations? Matignon’s services said on August 5, in a letter seen by AFP and reported by LCP, that the main complainant tried to kill herself after being suspended and accused of harassing her own teams. (radiofrance.fr) The administration said the other suicide attempt, in September 2025, had been found after internal checks to be not attributable to the service where that person worked. (lcp.fr) The same letter said one of the two March suicides involved an employee on sick leave for several months, while the other involved a civil servant from another service who was working remotely at the time. On the suspicious death, the services said the June case was in fact a natural death. ### What do employees and their lawyer allege about working conditions? (lcp.fr) Christelle Mazza said the prime minister’s services had been “deeply destabilized” since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly in June 2024, a period followed by repeated changes of prime ministers and ministerial teams. RTL reported that the June 25 filing described “institutional psychological harassment” and possible failures by the employer in its duty to protect staff. (lcp.fr) France Inter reported that the complainant described 16 months of suffering at work before her attempted suicide in April. The broadcaster said the report to prosecutors was unusual inside an administration known for discretion and was made under Article 40 of France’s criminal procedure code, which requires public officials to alert prosecutors if they learn of a crime or offense. (lcp.fr) ### What happens next inside the prime minister’s administration? Paris prosecutors are continuing the preliminary inquiry opened after the June 25 report and complaint, according to RTL and LCP. Matignon’s services said administrative investigations have been launched to determine whether there was any link between the deaths and the workplace, and LCP reported that an external audit of the whole 4,000-person administration is expected to begin soon. (rtl.fr) (radiofrance.fr)