Hundreds of women met the same man for a job interview. Then police allegedly found his spreadsheet.

A French former public servant has been accused of drugging more than 240 women in job interviews.

In 2015, Sylvie Delezenne was contacted on LinkedIn to interview for her 'dream job' at the French culture ministry.

She travelled from Lille to Paris — a two and a half hour journey — for the opportunity, where she met a senior civil servant, Christian Nègre.

Sylvie alleged that Nègre offered her a coffee, and given the interview circumstances, the then-35-year-old accepted out of politeness. She claims Nègre then suggested they continue the interview outside, walking through the Tuileries Gardens.

As they strolled, Delezenne answered question after question, with the entire interview process lasting hours. But as time progressed, she alleges she felt "an increasing need to urinate."

"My hands were trembling, my heart was palpitating, beads of sweat ran down my forehead, and I was turning red," Delezenne told The Guardian. "I said: 'I'm going to need a technical break.' But he kept on walking.'"

Eventually, she was desperate. 

"I wasn't well; I thought what can I do?" she said, explaining she had to crouch down at the side of a tunnel to urinate.

Delezenne alleged, "[Nègre] approached, took off his jacket and said: 'I'll shield you.' I thought that was strange.'"

On the way home from the interview, Delezenne claims she felt severely thirsty, and had swollen and bleeding feet.

Watch: Grace Tame on the power of abuse survivors' stories. Post continues after video.

Delezenne, now 45, is one of more than 240 women at the centre of a criminal investigation into Nègre.

The former public servant has been accused of drugging women in job interviews, over a nine-year-period, through powerful and illegal diuretics to make them urinate.

Police opened an investigation in 2018 after Nègre's colleague reported that he had allegedly tried to photograph the legs of a senior official.

When searching his computer, authorities report that they found a spreadsheet called 'P Experiments' where Nègre had allegedly kept detailed logs and photos.

A year later, Nègre was removed from the ministry and civil service and placed under formal investigation. However, he has been allowed to work in the private sector while waiting for his trial.

Before Nègre was reported to the police, Delezenne claims she blamed herself for "messing up" the interview, avoiding travelling to Paris or applying for jobs afterwards.

"I had nightmares, angry outbursts. I didn't look for work; I thought I was useless," she said.

She has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Other women have also come forward with allegations.

Anaïs de Vos, 28 at the time, claimed she took a coffee from Nègre in a job interview, and agreed to join him outside. But when she asked to head back inside, she alleges he kept walking.

"He looked me in the eye and said: 'Do you need a wee?' It was like an adult talking to a child," she told The Guardian.

Vos allegedly refused when Nègre suggested she relieve herself in a storage unit. She found a toilet that cost €1, but claims Nègre said he had no money and Vos didn't have her purse on her.

She claims she was able to find a café bathroom, but right before entering the stall she wet her pants. She managed to dry herself before leaving. On the train home, she claims she felt like she was going to faint. 

A lawyer for several of the alleged victims, Louise Beriot, said: "Under the pretext of a sexual fantasy, this is about power and domination over women's bodies … through humiliation and control."

According to French publication Le Monde, in February 2023, several women won compensation in a civil case against the state, ranging from €11,000 to €16,000 [approx AUD $22K-$32K].

The culture ministry itself was not found to be at fault. A culture ministry official said it was committed to preventing harassment and sexual violence and providing support to survivors, as per The Guardian.

Over the past 20 years, the use of drugs to perpetrate sexual assaults has been on the rise in France, as per the National Agency for Medicine Safety.

In April last year, the French government committed to identifying and stopping what they called "chemical submission" following the drug-facilitated mass rape of Gisèle Pelicot, and other allegations against French Senator Joël Guerriau.

"The Pelicot trial was a very important first step and chemical submission remains a vast issue," lawyer Beriot told The Guardian.

She also called out the time it has taken for Nègre's case to go to trial — six years — claiming it has resulted in a "secondary victimisation" of the women by the justice system. 

The Women's Foundation, a French organisation, who has been supporting 30 of the alleged victims since 2019, also released a statement, saying "the justice system seems incapable of handling a case of such magnitude."

"Victims, encouraged to file complaints, then suffer the consequences of the judicial system's failures, even as the State acknowledges the scale of the phenomenon of drug-facilitated sexual assault and the need for a strong criminal response," the organisation said.

"The Women's Foundation, alongside the victims, will continue to mobilise so that justice is no longer an obstacle course."

Feature Image: Instagram/@sylviedelezenne

If you or anyone you know needs to speak with an expert, please contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) — the National Sexual Assault, domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service.

*Mamamia has reached out to Delezenne for comment.