OD FLASH | New claims after 2023 relating to permanent functional impairment are inadmissible due to res judicata

Court of Cassation, Chamber, 27 November 2025, No. 25-70.015

The case concerns an employee who was the victim of an accident at work due to the inexcusable fault of his employer, who had already obtained, before 20 January 2023, a final court decision compensating him for all his damages, in particular through an increase in his pension. At that time, case law considered that this pension also covered permanent functional impairment. Following the reversal of case law on 20 January 2023, the Court of Cassation ruled that the pension no longer compensated for permanent functional impairment, opening up the possibility of separate compensation. The employee then filed a new claim to obtain this additional compensation.

However, the pre-trial judge declared this claim inadmissible because it conflicted with res judicata, as the previous decision had definitively settled the compensation for the consequences of the accident.

The Bordeaux Court of Appeal sought the opinion of the Court of Cassation in order to determine whether the reversal of case law could allow a final decision rendered before this reversal to be overturned.

The High Court pointed out that even though the new case law now recognises that the pension does not compensate for permanent functional impairment, this change does not constitute a new element allowing a closed case to be reopened. Thus, the principle of legal certainty precludes a victim who has already been compensated by a final court decision from seeking further compensation for permanent functional impairment solely on the basis of a subsequent reversal of case law. The employee’s claim is therefore inadmissible as it is contrary to the principle of res judicata.