The Court considered inter alia that the campaign leading up to this pre-consultation was not conducted in accordance with the standards that apply in such electoral processes in terms of ethics and fairness. In particular, the Court reproached the union CFE-CGC Orange, which supported the candidacy of the leading pair after the second round, for having used extraordinary means in favor of this candidacy, which resulted in an influence on the vote and a manipulation of the electoral process.
In the course of proceedings, the Court took note of practices that it considers do not correspond to fair and loyal debate. It therefore decided to cancel the second round of the pre-consultation, consequently rendering null and void the result of the vote with immediate effect.
Considering this decision, the Board of directors has noted that resolution 7 of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on May 22 can no longer be presented. This resolution provided for the appointment of a Board member representing the employee shareholders from the pair supported by the CFE-CGC Orange. This is irrespective of the fact that the agenda of the meeting has been published, the legal information for shareholders and the invitation to the Annual General Meeting have been sent, and the voting period is open.
As a result and in compliance with the applicable rules of information and communication, resolution 7 will not be submitted to a vote at the AGM and the votes already cast will not be counted.
The Board also instructed the Group’s management to initiate a new procedure in order to present to a future General Meeting of shareholders a candidate (formed of a pair including a leading representative and a substitute) for this position.
The Board of directors deplores the inappropriate practices highlighted by the Court in its decision and is taking measures to resolve the situation. The Board has therefore entrusted the Group’s management team with the objective of preventing the persistence of such improper practices as identified by the Court. This covers the application of accepted principles of ethics and fairness in electoral matters, and the requirement of equality in the means used conduct electoral campaigns.
More specifically, the stakeholders involved will now be asked to commit themselves to ceasing any actions during future voting processes, including all practices identified by the Court, that could undermine the fairness of the elections and compromise the validity of the vote.
