French Court Rules Orange Guilty of 'Moral Harassment' After Workers' Suicides

   By Mauro Orru 
 

A French court on Friday ruled that telecommunications company Orange (ORA.FR) and its former chief executive were guilty of "moral harassment" as part of a restructuring linked to a number of suicides at the company in the last decade.

A Paris court imposed a 75,000-euro fine ($83,432) on the company, formerly France Telecom, and charged several former managers with moral harassment between January 2007 and December 2008. The alleged actions were part of an effort by the company to reduce its workforce.

Orange said it wouldn't appeal the decision.

The tribunal also gave jail terms to former managers, including former CEO Didier Lombard. Mr. Lombard was sentenced to a year in jail and fined EUR15,000. A period of eight months of the sentence was suspended.

Mr. Lombard has previously denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.

"Independently of this decision, the group previously decided in July 2019 to create a compensation commission to review individual situations," Orange said in a statement.

The company said the commission is examining the first dossiers submitted by individuals or beneficiaries who were at the company between 2007 and 2010 to thrash out compensation terms.

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 20, 2019 08:21 ET (13:21 GMT)

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