France: executives at Orange (ex-France Telecom) risk standing trial for moral harassment

The public prosecutor’s office in Paris has called for three former executives at the Orange company to stand trial for workplace harassment. The three in question are Didier Lombard, the then France Telecom CEO, his number two, Pierre-Louis Wenès, and the former HR head Olivier Barberot. Five other executives are also to face charges of complicity. The telecoms company and its former CEO are suspected of having implemented a policy of destabilizing employees in a bid to speed up departures from the company.
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Over the course of three years sixty employees at the company committed suicide, with thirty-five taking their lives between 2008 and 2009. For four years the investigating judge has trawled through thousands of emails, pored over Powerpoint presentations, and interviewed dozens of employees and senior staff. The inquiry process is completed and the prosecutor’s office has presented its conclusions. In a document 193 pages long, signed on 22 June, the Public Prosecutor in Paris clearly holds th

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