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Manpower Inc. (MAN) said it plans to appeal a fine of about EUR42 million, or $53.8 million, imposed by the Competition Council in France that said the staffing company's French operating unit, along with other companies, engaged in anti-competitive conduct between March 2003 and November 2004.

Kenneth Hunt, Manpower's chief legal officer, said the council's decision and imposition of the fine was "unwarranted."

"The council's holding that our French operation was broadly engaged in a concerted practice to avoid competition on price is not supported by the facts of the case and the fine imposed by the council is excessive as a measure of the damage to the economy that the fine is supposed to reflect," he said.

Competitors Adecco SA (ADEN.VX) and Vediorbis also were fined, but the amounts were less than Manpower's fine.

Hunt added that since 2004, the company has taken steps to improve its compliance and training program to prevent future issues. Each of Manpower's 33,000 employees must take an annual ethics training course.

Manpower took a second-quarter charge of $50 million, or 62 cents a share, to increase its legal reserves, in connection to the case.

Manpower is one of the world's largest staffing companies, recruiting roughly five million permanent, temporary and contract workers each year. Although it is based in the U.S., Manpower derives two-thirds of its revenue from Europe, one third from France alone.

But the company has been hurt amid the global recession, since businesses usually shed temporary workers ahead of permanent staffers. Manpower said in December that its European business had been deteriorating rapidly.

Manpower's shares closed Friday at $28.46 and haven't traded premarket.

-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089; kerry.grace@dowjones.com

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