Pawnshop Didier (Didier Lombard)

Pawnshop Didier (Didier Lombard)

Person

2019: Imprisonment for a wave of suicides in Orange

In the middle of December, 2019 the Criminal Court of Paris decided that telecommunication giant Orange and three his former heads bear responsibility for a wave of suicides which passed among the staff of the company in 2007 and 2008. The court found them guilty of the course of long trial.

It is said in the statement of Orange that the company is not going to appeal against court's decision according to which it should pay a penalty in the amount of €75,000. The former CEO of Orange Didier Lombard and two more heads received year of imprisonment, including eight months conditionally and also a penalty in the amount of €15,000. According to the French press, Lombard is ready to submit the appeal.

Orange and three his former heads bear responsibility for a wave of suicides

The important decree was issued after three-months judicial proceedings. Prosecutors accused the company of implementation of the restructuring program which policy included humiliation and prosecution of employees. Within the new program of employees forced to accept humiliating roles and also transferred to the remote areas where they could not take family. The court considered cases of 39 workers from which 12 committed suicide, twelve attempted upon suicide and 8 suffered from a depression or were forced to leave work.

In the statement Orange reported that since October, 2019 there began work the committee on payment of compensations which considers cases of all employees affected by the restructuring program during 2007-2010. The role of this commission is in agreeing about acceptable compensation payments to families of dead and injured of employees. Thus the company hopes to avoid long, expensive and extremely painful judicial processes.^[1]

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