A series of suicides for Orange Telecom employees, which prompted a French court to convict 3 of the company’s former senior officials, in a massive case highlighting "moral harassment" in large companies.
The prosecutor said that the methods used during the company's massive restructuring, in 2009, put some workers under so much pressure that they committed suicide.
The court examined 39 cases between 2006 and 2009, which included 19 suicides, 12 suicide attempts, and eight cases of severe depression.
The court was unable to link other suicides to employees, with the company’s job status, according to Sky News.
The Paris court heard the families of the victims and saw letters and pictures, including one note saying: "I commit suicide because of my work at France Telecom (the former name of the company), it is the only reason."
The company acknowledged that a number of employees suffered as a result of administrative errors, but denied that there was a systematic policy of moral harassment.
Former CEO Didier Lombard, 77, was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros.
The company also paid compensation of 3.5 million euros, after dismissing 22,000 employees and redistributing 10,000 employees, in a massive restructuring step 10 years ago.
A report published in 2010 by labor inspectors said that the administration used "ethical harassment" methods, such as forcing employees to work in cities far from their homes, and setting unattainable performance targets.
Orange is the first large French company to be tried for moral harassment, and the case could set a legal precedent in the corporate world.
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