An expensive TV appearance. Member of the famous group Tragédie (renamed several times since), singer AZ has just seen his dismissal from the SNCF confirmed by the Lyon Court of Appeal. And this, notably following an appearance on the C8 show “Touche pas à mon poste”, presented by Cyril Hanouna, in June 2017, as spotted by the media L’Informé. Controller by day, singer by night, he came to present, alongside his two friends, the group’s new single – at the time called T30 -, called “You Never Should Have”.
Problem, Hazdine Souiri, AZ’s real name, declared himself on sick leave that day… Following an administrative investigation, he was subsequently dismissed from the SNCF in October 2017, after seven years in the railway company. He had contested his dismissal before the industrial tribunal in 2018, which had rejected his request in 2020. Hazdine Souiri – who joined Tragédie in 2015 and therefore did not experience the group’s glory days in the early 2000s – appealed this judgment.
In its decision, rendered at the end of September, the Lyon Court of Appeal considers that the blackmail controller “committed a fault justifying his dismissal”, by not requesting authorization from SNCF management to combine “his artistic professional activity with his main professional activity”. Artistic activity which, contrary to what the singer had maintained, “does not constitute a voluntary activity”, affirms the court of appeal.
Also read “Turn off this shit show”: a TikToker traps Cyril Hanouna live in “Touche pas à mon poste”
According to the investigation report produced by the company, and whose conclusions are cited by the court, Hazdine Souiri had gotten into the habit of taking sick leave to carry out his concerts and recordings. “The dates of your concerts and recordings, including abroad, publicly available on various social networks several weeks in advance (…) almost systematically correspond to periods of absence due to illness. However, it appears that these concerts are never canceled due to your state of health and your presence can even be noted (videos, photos, comments),” indicates the document, citing for example a tour in China in November 2016, a concert in March 2017 in Belgium announced in the local press or another tour in China in May 2017 announced on social networks.
However, the court ruled in favor of AZ’s brother, presented as the manager of the T30 group and also a controller at SNCF, from which he was fired in 2017 for the same reason. In its decision, the Lyon Court of Appeal deemed the company’s decision “unjustified” and ordered it to pay 12,000 euros in damages.
