A Frenchwoman has been fired by her employer after refusing to change her name.
Marion, from Toulouse, was asked to use a different Christian name while working for a medical equipment firm, so she was not confused with a fellow employee of the same name.
“He wanted to change my name from Marion to Marie, because clients could confuse with another Marion that worked in the same department,” she told local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi.
The 27-year-old was allegedly sent an email asking her to change her name. She was later called for an interview, in which she was asked to either chose an alias or have her contract terminated, The Local reports.
Wanting to retain her name, Marion said she was forced to leave the company.
An explanation for her dismissal was given to the Pôle Emploi – a French governmental agency which registers unemployed people, helps them find jobs and provides them with financial aid.
According to FranceTV, it read: “Problem of identity within the company. The same two names, that was unwanted by management.”
Marian worked at the company, which has not been named in reports, as a temp for three weeks before being promoted to the role of trainee commercial assistant.
She reportedly found the trainee position with the help of Pôle Emploi, which was supposed to lead to a fulltime role.
Marian told La Dépêche: “Either the boss takes his customers for fools or it’s just a pretext because he never wanted to offer me a contract,” adding surnames should be used to distinguish people with the same Christian names.
The head of the company has insisted there has been no wrong-doing, saying: “Changing names or taking on pseudonyms is a common practice in the commercial sector.
“We are a small company and the two Marions had already lead to confusion. Clients needed to be able to distinguish between them.”
