France Steps Up France Télécom Suicides Probe
French prosecutors have ordered a preliminary criminal investigation into allegations that management practices at France Télécom SA (FTE) led several employees of the telecommunications giant to commit suicide in recent years.
An investigative magistrate will be appointed next week to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bring France Télécom to trial for “moral harassment,” a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor said Friday.
Prosecutors are acting on a complaint for “moral harassment” filed in December by Sud PTT, one of France Télécom’s main labor unions. The union lodged the complaint after the telecommunications company said that 35 of its employees had taken their own lives between 2008 and 2009.
