Educational Technology Unit Loses 14 Staff to Harassment Crisis; Management Response Falte

Fourteen staff members left the Regional Academic Delegation for Educational Technology, known as the Drane, over a period spanning 2020 to 2025, as a prolonged harassment crisis hollowed out one of Reunion’s key educational technology units and exposed deep failures in the rectorat’s capacity to respond to documented harm.

The Drane operates as a small, specialized unit within Reunion’s broader education authority, typically staffed by teachers seconded from regular classroom duties. Its function is the deployment of digital tools across schools. By most accounts, it worked with relative stability until 2019, when a new manager arrived from mainland France. Xavier, an employee who spent several years in the delegation, described the previous environment as “cordial and good-natured, with strong team cohesion.” The leadership transition ended that.

Additional reference context is available at https://imazpress.com/faits-divers/une-affaire-de-harcelement-secoue-le-rectorat-de-la-reunion.

From 2020 onward, staff describe a pattern of public humiliation during meetings, repeated attacks on individual competence, accusations of inefficiency, and shouting. Laetitia, another Drane employee, called the management approach “toxic” and pointed to a specific operational consequence: “We never knew which way to turn because our supervisor kept changing priorities on our projects. We had to constantly adapt.” That constant redirection made it impossible for staff to stabilize their work or plan effectively.

The manager, who also served as the rector’s adviser on digital policy, went further with one subordinate. He engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior, including unwanted advances, questionable jokes, and repeated uninvited invitations. The harassment began in 2020 and continued for years. In September 2025, the targeted employee, worn down by accumulated stress, attempted suicide and spent several days in a coma. A second employee suffered separately: a benign brain tumor became inflamed under the pressure of the work environment, requiring chemotherapy.

Staff had tried to act earlier. Beginning in 2023, employees reported the conduct to a human resources representative at the rectorat. The response was discouraging. Laetitia recounted being told by the HR adviser to avoid making trouble, with the explicit suggestion that it would serve her professional interests not to “saw off the branch she was sitting on.” Nothing followed.

Meanwhile, the unit continued to deteriorate. Staff were isolated, removed from projects, and subjected to recurring humiliations. The 14 departures, significant for a small specialized unit, were accompanied by spreading cases of burnout and depression.

The institutional response only accelerated after staff forced the issue. In June 2025, six affected employees secured a meeting with the rector’s chief of staff only after sending registered letters with delivery confirmation. They simultaneously submitted documentation to the national Ministry of Education. By September 2025, a court officer served the manager notice at his workplace prohibiting him from entering the premises. On November 1st, he was removed from his position and an internal administrative investigation was initiated. Days later, he was assigned a new role as a mission officer for digital technology at the University of Reunion.

The manager rejected the sanction. Speaking to Imaz Press, he described the allegations as a “vendetta” and “conspiracy” orchestrated by former subordinates, maintained that his communications had been “benevolent,” and said the facts were unproven. He described himself as depressed and under medical care, and said the administrative sanction had “shattered his career.” He was demoted to his previous teaching position and assigned to Roland Garros High School in Le Tampon, three years before his scheduled retirement.

Anthony Payet, secretary of the National Union of Schools (SNE), who attended meetings with rectorat representatives, rejected that characterization and criticized the institutional response directly. “There is considerable suffering beneath this for the victims,” Payet said. “There was an administrative sanction for the harasser, but from a human standpoint, it is something else entirely, and the rectorat should have marked this more forcefully.” He also identified the core operational failure: “The administration grasped the seriousness of this matter too late. Several months passed between the first reports and the rectorat’s response. It was not taken seriously initially, and there is an impression that above all, one must not make waves.”

The victims remain unsatisfied. Xavier was direct about what was missing: “We should have been protected at every level after these painful events. We should have been offered psychological follow-up financed by the Education Ministry. That did not happen.” Some are calling for the former manager’s removal from the civil service entirely, arguing the sanction was too lenient.

The rectorat has declared the matter closed, having replaced the manager with a new leader. The displaced manager has filed a defamation complaint and challenged the administrative sanction before the administrative court in Saint-Denis. One victim filed a harassment complaint in May 2026. Whether the courts will deliver what the institution did not remains the open question.