Dear All,
In 2007, I was recruited by the Group ESC Rennes to join their faculty as an "Assistant Professor". The Business School routinely encourages professors to secure consulting assignments from French companies in order to build accreditation for the ESC business program. The School’s published guidelines encourage this activity to enhance the School’s reputation and increased market presence. Because of my professional experience in Asia and my dual Sino-French business credentials, the French Post Office offered me a consulting assignment to attend “Mobile Asia Congress in Macao”. The total amount of the contract was 3000 Euros. Before signing this contract, the project was approved by the Administration of the School. Complying with the School’s standing policy, Group ESC Rennes would take 15% of my consulting fee (or 450€), leaving the 85% balance (or 2550€) as compensation for my report that analyzed and summarized information and trends presented at the wireless forum.
After I fulfilled my contractual requirements, the Post Office paid my 3000€ consulting fee directly to the School. Without any prior discussion or notice to me, Group ESC Rennes decided to change the terms of the contract. Despite my understandable protests, the School refused to pay me. By July of 2008, I received a notice of dismissal for contrived allegations of incompetence as an instructor and spurious complaints about my academic credentials, research and publications.
I viewed these actions as a deliberate attempt to defame me and cause lasting damage to my professional standing. These false allegations became a matter of court record. During the legal proceedings, the School refused to acknowledge my rights as a French National and criticized my academic achievements. Despite earning a masters and a doctorate from well regarded universities in Paris, Group ESC Rennes stated that my PHD diploma was “second rate”.
The Labour Court of Rennes reviewed my case on May 30, 2011, (a three year delay) and eventually decided the case in my favor. I note a few key points:
- The Labour Court ruled that the dismissal of Mme. Tang by the Group ESC Rennes was not based on cause, and it’s (the dismissal) without any reason and truth.
- Condemns the Group ESC Rennes to pay Mme. TANG XXXXX€ for damages and 1500€ of legal fees, under Article 700 of the CPC.
- Condemns the Group ESC Rennes to reimburse the Pôle Emploi (the division employment) for six months of benefits on the basis of Article L1235-4 of the Labour Code.
- The Group ESC Rennes should reimburse all administrative expenses of the Court.
During these 3 years, I relied upon many people who supported my cause in Labour Court and encouraged me not to give up. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your assistance.
Lei TANG
Hey Lei,
Its good to see you didnt give up and managed to pull thru, i had a similar experience with ESC but as a student.
As a Masters Student, the school (ESC Rennes ) promised many things when they had come to our country, but failed to deliver which include help in finding internship and so on...
My Journey starts in May2010 when, my supervisor quit school and school sent me an email saying, i will have to find a different supervisor..etc, and when i did, the school kept rejecting it ( 3 times ) and finally in August 2010, i get a letter from the administration that, they will decide and let me know, I sent many emails in september which were left unanswered by this time, i had started writing my thesis and in November 15 i get a reply from the management they selected a supervisor..etc. I wrote to the supervisor that, the last date of submission is dec 13 and i couldn't wait for the school to start, and i had already done so. he asked me to send my work ..etc, and when i did i get a reply on 3rd December saying, your thesis is nearly done and there isn't much to supervise, am sorry but its an F from me, as u had to send me part by part from March Not in November and i don't have time to read rest of it...
i was surprised cus he was assigned to me on November Not March, and when i wrote back, i was ignored.
I then submitted my completed thesis to the school, on dec 10, and during my oral defense, i was asked to write my thesis once again, as it was not supervised.
i had to start in Feb 11 and re-submit in June 11
And once again i started to write my thesis and the supervisor sent harsh comments back, questioning my language ( asking me to use English, not gibberish ), i went thru, and he validated 4 Units out of 5 and on May 27th he sends me an email saying, he does not find it interesting anymore and he will give it an F , unless i write a new thesis again ( new title, new research ). and the submission date was on end of June.
I start working on a new title , new thesis , new research. i had to work day and night to finish it. i got it validated by the supervisor and submitted it on June 20th
and waited for the results till September, and i started contacting the school, and i got a reply in November stating that they suspect Plagiarism in my thesis and they are going to give it an F. When i argued with my Project Manager and Supervisor, the supervisor never replied, my project manager sent a letter stating that the school will contact me soon...
In December 15 i get a letter from the school saying, i was asked to be present on January 12 before a Jury of the school to defend my case.
I managed to got o Rennes on that date, to defend myself, which led to the most horrific experience of my life.
The board/jury simply asked me to confess so they can go about their business, and very rude in their manner of speaking, the most insulting part was when they said the graphical representation in my thesis not possible and cannot be generated by any software and the logical conclusion is that, i had stolen it from some company...etc
and when i explained that generating a graph is not rocket science and also that am an Communications Engineer and i have published many journals and writing a simple thesis was not much of a problem,
Upon which they questioned by Credentials on being an Engineer, it was then, when they asked me to produce a graphical representation in the Meeting itself. Incidentally i had my laptop with me, and i had to show them the method, and this activity was monitored by the Dean..
i felt so humiliated when they asked me to draw the graph again, its like how can you get to be an engineer, if you cant generate a simple graph...
At the meeting they said i would get an letter within 10 days with the jury's result. i got a scanned copy of a letter after 20 days saying my thesis was rejected and i was given an F...
i enrolled in esc in 2009 and its 2012 and still i did not get my diploma.
France has many good schools to offer, Avoid ESC, its no good.
Posted by: Syed Junaid | February 19, 2012 at 06:25 PM