Labor Law — Private Investigator

Conflicts at work, tension with management, inappropriate behaviour, suspicions of fraud or unfair competition… The professional world generates situations in which you feel both exposed and powerless. You have the sense that “something isn’t right”, but you lack structured facts that would allow you to take action without putting yourself at risk.

In this context, the role of a private investigator is not to “take sides”, but to document reality: precise, dated and sourced facts, presented in a neutral way so that a lawyer, a works council (CSE) or an HR department can make informed decisions.

At AzurX, we intervene mainly in three key areas:

• moral or sexual harassment at work,

• conflict with the employer,

• fraud or unfair competition.

Moral or sexual harassment at work: moving from impressions to facts

In matters of harassment, the line between discomfort and illegality sometimes seems blurred. For the person who is a victim or witness, everything gets mixed together: remarks, insinuations, repeated behaviour, messages, isolation… The challenge, from an investigative standpoint, is to untangle this web and turn it into a clear timeline.

Documenting what is really happening

Our investigations aim to document precise facts, not impressions:

• frequency and repetition of behaviours,

• messages (emails, internal messaging, texts provided by the person),

• any potential witnesses,

• places and times,

• direct or digital interactions.

Our approach is:

• caring towards the person raising the alarm (listening, respect for their pace, protection of their anonymity as far as possible),

• balanced, in order to preserve everyone’s rights (no hasty accusations, no clandestine methods).

We collect only lawful elements:
emails provided by the victim, exchanges to which they legitimately have access, contextual observations, authorised internal traces, etc.

From there, we build a neutral, time-stamped and sourced chronology that places each fact back into its context.

A defensible file to decide on next steps

The aim is to provide a defensible file to the lawyer, the works council or HR:

• sufficiently detailed to justify protection measures (adjusting the position, separating colleagues, making a formal report),

• or to prepare, if necessary, disciplinary or legal proceedings.

The framework:
respect for the GDPR, professional secrecy, the quality of evidence and the legal requirements governing harassment. AzurX remains discreet from start to finish: what is shared as part of the investigation does not leave the strictly necessary circle.

Conflict with the employer: objectifying the situation

Abuse of authority, breach of the employment contract, marginalisation, pressure on working hours, suspicion of misconduct or, conversely, of false accusation… In these situations, you can quickly find yourself locked in an imbalanced face-off, with the feeling of not being heard.

Gathering concrete elements, not just feelings

Our role is to objectify:

• how schedules are actually organised,

• supporting exchanges (emails, instructions, last-minute changes),

• consistent witness statements,

• material facts (working conditions, actual workload, usual practices in the department).

We prioritise lawfully accessible sources: no stealing documents, no unauthorised access to internal systems, no covert recordings organised by us.

The investigation can also shed light on the real operating conditions of a department:

• chronic overload,

• long-standing informal “tolerances”,

• “unofficial” practices that have become the norm,

which helps to put a grievance, sanction or criticism of an employee back into context.

A neutral report serving mediation or litigation

The deliverable is a clear, neutral and traceable report:

• which describes the facts,

• explains the sources,

• distinguishes objective findings from interpretations,

• and can be used for mediation, labour court proceedings or a better-negotiated amicable solution.

All this is done in compliance with labour law, the legality of the means used, and the rules on evidence and investigation reports.

Fraud or unfair competition: following the facts, not just suspicion

An employee diverting part of the clientele, undeclared side activity during working hours, use of company resources for personal business, unfair competition under civil law… These situations are sensitive: the company cannot make accusations without proof, but it cannot ignore them either.

Documenting without crossing the red line

We intervene to document defensible facts:

• dates and sequences of events,

• means used (equipment, tools, channels),

• beneficiaries or circuits (clients, service providers, related entities),

always without intrusive means or unauthorised access.

Our method combines:

• targeted monitoring and OSINT (online presence, advertisements, public traces of a side activity),

• observable patterns of use (behaviours, canvassing, unusual movements in the field),

• cross-checking lawful sources (witness statements, accessible internal documents, contractual elements),

• identifying patterns and collecting material indications permitted by the legal framework.

Where the stakes are high, an asset investigation can supplement the analysis to shed light on the economic context (always in compliance with the law).

A structured, actionable report

The final report:

• organises the elements in a logical, chronological order,

• clearly distinguishes hypotheses, indications and evidence,

• highlights actionable next steps: formal notice, internal measures, preservation or seizure of documents, legal action on the merits.

It is designed to be shared with your advisers (lawyers, in-house counsel, experts), and fits within the framework of legality, quality of evidence and respect for individuals.

In practice, what does the first contact look like?

Before any investigation, we take the time to:

• clarify the situation and your objectives (protection, negotiation, litigation),

• check whether a private investigation is really relevant (sometimes legal action alone is enough),

• calibrate the intervention: reasonable means, duration, scope.

👉 Are you facing alleged harassment, a conflict with your employer or a serious suspicion of internal fraud?
You can present your situation to an AzurX private investigator to discreetly examine the possible lines of inquiry and the evidence that it is possible – and lawful – to gather.