Former executives at France Télécom have been given prison sentences and fines after being found guilty of "institutional harassment" and creating a culture of routine workplace bullying that sparked a number of suicides at the company.

The landmark ruling is likely to send shockwaves through the French business world. It is the first time managers have been held criminally responsible for implementing a general strategy of bullying even if they had not dealt directly with the staff involved.

The former state-owned firm, which has since been rebrandedas Orange, was given the maximum fine of €75,000 (£64,000).

The ex-chief executive Didier Lombard, his former deputy Louis-Pierre Wenes and the human resources director Olivier Barberot were each given a one-year sentence, with eight months suspended, and fined €15,000. They were found guilty for offences that took place in 2007 and 2008 when cost-cutting plans were put in place....

...The investigation focused on the cases of 39 employees, 19 of whom killed themselves, 12 who attempted to, and eight who suffered from acute depression or were signed off sick as a result of the pressure.

Many of the workers, including one who jumped out of a fifth-floor window in front of her colleagues, left notes expressing deep unhappiness at work or saying the company had made their lives unbearable.