Didier Lombard had been sentenced to four months in prison at first instance.

The ex-CEO of France Telecom saw his sentence lightened this Friday in Paris, the court of appeal condemning him for institutional moral harassment to one year in prison with full suspension.

Didier Lombard, now 80 years old, was fined the same amount of 15,000 euros as that pronounced at first instance in 2019. His number 2 at the material time (2007-2008), Louis-Pierre Wenès, was also sentenced on appeal to one year in prison with a suspended sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros, twelve years after the events marked by a wave of suicides by group employees.

“You will not serve this prison sentence”

At first instance in 2019, the court noted their "preeminent role" in the implementation of a "hard-line" downsizing policy over the period 2007-2008, using "prohibited means ".

Nineteen employees committed suicide, 12 attempted to do so and 8 experienced an episode of depression or lost work during the 2007-2010 period.

“This decision reverses the decision taken at first instance.

You will not serve this prison sentence, ”said the president of the court, Pascaline Chamboncel-Saligue.

“The judgment does not satisfy everyone, the court (…) hopes that both of you can continue on your way and that you will no longer have to deal with justice”, she concluded.

Departure in "forced march" with "prohibited methods"

The public prosecutor had requested a year in prison, including a six-month suspended sentence and a 15,000 euro fine for Didier Lombard and Louis-Pierre Wenès, convicted at first instance for their "preeminent role" in the establishment of a policy of “hard-line” workforce reduction over the 2007-2008 period at France Telecom.

The two former managers of France Telecom (which became Orange in 2013) faced justice because of the implementation in 2006 of two restructuring plans (from 2007 to 2010) following the privatization of the company (2004 ) and providing for the departure of 22,000 employees and the mobility of 10,000 others (out of some 120,000 employees).

These departures "in forced march" with "prohibited methods" had led to a "degradation of working conditions" of "thousands of employees", some of whom committed suicide.

The symbol of suffering at work

The crisis erupted in broad daylight after the suicide in July 2009 of Michel Deparis, a Marseille technician who directly implicated France Telecom in a letter.

France Telecom has become the symbol of suffering at work.

The company, which did not appeal, had been sanctioned with the maximum fine of 75,000 euros in a historic judgment, becoming the first CAC40 company condemned for institutional “moral harassment”.

The ex-HRD Olivier Barberot, sentenced at first instance to one year in prison including eight months suspended and a fine of 15,000 euros, had withdrawn his appeal.

Justice

Suicides at France Telecom: The former leaders deny any responsibility before the Paris Court of Appeal

Justice

Suicides at France Telecom: The appeal trial set for May 11 to early July 2022

  • Justice

  • France Telecom

  • Didier Lombard

  • Suicide

  • Work

  • Moral harassment