Because they "morally harassed" their employees, a court in Paris sentenced top French managers to prison terms and fines. Just over ten years after at least 18 France Télécom employees committed suicide, the judges on Friday sentenced former CEO Didier Lombard to one year in prison, eight of them on probation. He is also said to pay a fine of 15,000 euros.
Lombard has appealed, the AFP news agency said. Two other ex-managers were also sentenced to prison. The company, which was renamed Orange in 2013, is to pay the maximum penalty of 75,000 euros.
The case and verdict are remarkable. According to investigators, at least 18 employees committed suicide between April 2008 and 2010, and 13 others are said to have attempted it. The suicide series had sparked a fierce debate about the culture in French companies in France - especially in formerly state-owned companies, in which the competitive pressure from private competitors is increasing.
"Management through Terror"
Unions even speak of more than 60 suicides at France Télécom. In France, for the first time, a group and its management personnel were on trial for bullying. According to the media, an employee wrote in his farewell letter that the company had "management through terror".
In the course of an in-depth restructuring of the company, the former managers are said to have used pressure and forced transfers to transfer the necessary job cuts to the employees, according to the allegations.
more on the subject
Warnings from unions, company doctors, health insurance companies
France Télécom had cut 22,000 jobs and rededicated 10,000 over the years to respond to increasing competition in the telecommunications sector. However, since French workers' rights are very strong and high severance payments were planned, other methods were used to implement the restructuring. The accused denied the allegations.
A research report released in early 2010 said management had forced employees into new jobs that were far from home or used goals that were simply unattainable to evaluate their work. There has been a total inadequate response to warnings from unions, company doctors and health insurers. The head of the group, Didier Lombard, then resigned.
Are you thinking about taking your own life? Talk to other people about it. Here you will find - also anonymous - offers of help in supposedly hopeless situations. By phone, chat, email or in person.