Denunciation of students
The Federal Court protects the EPFL whistleblowers
A teacher filed a complaint for slander after sending a critical letter to him. But the identity of the authors of this letter will not be revealed for the moment.
The names of the students who have denounced a professor should not be sent to justice following the complaint of the professor concerned, has just decided the Federal Court.
24 hours
- The Federal Court maintains a student letter criticizing an EPFL teacher.
- The EPFL refuses to transmit the identity of the signatories.
- Justice recognizes the EPFL the right to preserve the secrecy of function.
- Complaints have been increasing continuously since 2019 at the EPFL.
This is the story of a missive signed by a group of students and dated March 21, 2023, which landed on the office of Pierre Dillenbourg. This computer doctor and professor at the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne (EPFL) is also associate vice-president for educationwhose mission is to “ensure the proper functioning of the education system”.
The precise content of this letter is not known. But, in essence, she is critical of a school teacher, whose “24 hours” ignores identity. Some time later, the teacher received a cavilated and anonymized copy of the letter. He files a complaint on May 15 of the same year for slander and the alternatively defamation. To conduct its investigation, the public prosecutor of the district of Lausanne therefore demands from the EPFL and Pierre Dillenbourg the original of the letter.
“Secret of function”
The interested party refuses this request, specifying that “after a careful weighing of the interests involved, the EPFL considers that it is its responsibility as a training institution […] To preserve the student and professional career of signatories: the vast majority of these are indeed still led to take exams or carry out practical work subject to evaluation within the Haute École ”. The prosecution insists by recalling that the obstacle to criminal action is punished by law. In October 2024, the EPFL ends up copying the original of the letter in a USB key placed under seal, believing that it is covered by the secrecy of function.
Like journalists protect their sources, must EPFL management protect the identity of its students when they denunciation? The question has occupied Vaud, then federal justice in recent months. “No”, first replied the Tribunal for Constraint Measures of the canton of Vaud on November 12, 2024, which concluded that the seals were lifted.
The Federal Court maintains the seals
“Yes”, finally contradicted him the Federal Court. In a Dated June 16, 2025the judges of Mon-Repos canceled this lifting of the seals, considering that it is to the competent authority of the EPFL to decide or not to transmit to justice the identity of the signatories of the letter, and not to the court itself. Clearly, only the hierarchy of an official can untie him from his professional secrecy, not a judge.
The seals are therefore maintained at the moment. Throughout history, the EPFL gives no details. “The cause having been referred to the tribunal for new examination measures, we cannot go into details of the case,” replied his press service.
Alert launchers are not protected enough in Switzerland
According to the rapport 2023 du «respect compliance office»the complaints received at EPFL have been increasing continuously since 2019. In 2023, they mainly focused on alleged facts of psychological harassment. Within the institution, whistleblowers are protected by the Directive on psychosocial risks and by that on the Alert launch process. The latter, however, provides for an exception to the confidentiality of denunciations, in particular in the presence of legal proceedings.
For Jean-Pierre Méan, lawyer and former president of the Swiss section of the NGO Transparency International, “this judgment of the Federal Court is good news for whistleblowers, who must at all costs be protected”. In a Report made last Junethe OECD advised Switzerland to “conduct legislative reforms without delay to protect whistleblowers in the private sector”.
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