Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2020
  • Supplement
  • HBS Case Collection

France Télécom (B): A Wave of Staff Suicides

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Ashley V. Whillans
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:4
ShareBar

Abstract

In the B case we learn that at least 19 France Telecom employees took their own lives between 2006 and 2009, 12 others attempted suicide, and eight suffered from serious depression for reasons reportedly related to work. Some of these deaths occurred in public places, others on company grounds.

Labor inspector Sylvie Catala conducted an investigation and found that the “lack of consideration of psychosocial risks in the restructuring is the result of a policy implemented throughout the country… and that the company’s top executives put pressure on middle management, who passed on this pressure to workers.” She concluded that the company’s actions likely “endangered human life” and constituted “moral harassment.”

Keywords

Mental Health; Change; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Health; Human Capital; Human Resources; Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Law; Social Psychology; Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Crisis Management; Employees; Well-being; Telecommunications Industry; Europe; European Union

Citation

Montgomery, Cynthia A., and Ashley V. Whillans. "France Télécom (B): A Wave of Staff Suicides." Harvard Business School Supplement 721-421, December 2020.
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Cynthia A. Montgomery

Strategy
→More Publications

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Related Work

    • March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    France Télécom (A), (B), and (C)

    By: Ashley Whillans
Related Work
  • France Télécom (A), (B), and (C) By: Ashley Whillans
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.