The management of a public hospital in Lyon, south-eastern France, has filed a complaint against a funeral home worker suspected of having photographed the deceased and posting them on social media.
The Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL), which brings together 13 public hospitals, “received the report this weekend of images taken by an agent at the Croix Rousse Hospital funeral service,” according to a HCL press release. .
“These intolerable and unworthy acts have been the subject of an official investigation since Monday,” the administration said.
According to the local newspaper Le Progrès, the employee concerned is said to have posted photos of corpses from the company’s funeral service on social networks.
This was pointed out on Instagram by a whistleblower, Marvin L., who revealed his first name, reproduced some of his photos and urged his subscribers to report the employee’s actions, whose motives remain unclear, to the HCL.
“The officer in question was immediately suspended from duty and is the subject of disciplinary proceedings. A complaint was also filed,” added the HCL, which “strongly condemns these acts.”
Following that complaint, the Lyon prosecutor’s office told AFP that it had “launched an investigation into allegations of invasion of privacy through the capture, recording or transmission of images”.