Suicide case against France Telecom to be reopened

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Within a few days, an investigation will be opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office into suicides by France Telecom employees. A judge of the Paris public health division will be assigned to carry out the investigation into the case.

In an investigation carried out by the work inspectorate in February, the operator was found guilty of putting workers at risk of serious health problems due to its organizational changes, and of employing management methods likened to harassment.

In 2008 and 2009, 35 suicides were committed and since the start of the year, 11 suicides have already been committed. Former CEO Didier Lombard, former head of French operations Louis-Pierre Wenes and human resources director Olivier Barberot have been targeted by the case.

SUD representative Patrick Ackermann has announced that the union will call on other labour organisations, victims’ families and occupational health doctors to initiate a joint lawsuit.

France Telecom faces leadership crisis

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: ‘A full-blown leadership crisis’ is lingering in France Telecom (FT) with Stephane Richard, CEO in waiting, pushing for chief executive Didier Lombard to go quickly to allow the firm to turn a corner.

Since January 2008, 34 staffs of the company have committed suicide and Lombard, who was contracted until June 2011 could be asked by the board to go as soon as February this year.

Corporate restructuring programme of FT was formally suspended on October 21, 2009 until the end of the year, in the wake of the sad news that a 25th member of its workforce had committed suicide. Didier Lombard has been the target of much criticism for the unfolding situation and concerns over high levels of stress in the workplace.

Furor continues over unprecedented mobile phone-tapping case

An unprecedented mobile phone-tapping conspiracy targeting Greece’s top political leadership is being investigated (cf yesterday’s post Mobile phone-tapping plot uncovered in Greece). Charges have already been filed by a relevant prosecutor, while the judicial probe will also consider espionage charges, reports Athens News Agency .

The government on Thursday said the entire phone-tapping plot was discovered when some type of glitch was detected in Vodafone’s systems on March 4, 2005, with the suspect software pinpointed by software experts from multinational Ericsson on March 7, 2005. An order to disable the “ghost program” was given the next day, March 8, 2005, whereas the government was notified by the company two days later.

One of the primary questions that swirled around the east Mediterranean country since Thursday morning is why Vodafone disabled the “ghost programme”, an action that reportedly made tracing the perpetrators difficult.

… Back in Athens, when asked about an even more “cloak-and-dagger” aspect of the ongoing investigation, namely, the suicide of Vodafone’s network design department manager during the period when the phone-tapping was discovered, Roussopoulos said the incident is “real” and is being investigated by police.

… One of the 46 individuals whose mobile phones were tapped was, in fact, identified as an employee of the US embassy in Athens.”

Source- http://www.textually.org

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