DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Manpower Inc. (MAN) said it plans to appeal a fine of about
EUR42 million, or $53.8 million, imposed by the Competition Council
in France that said the staffing company's French operating unit,
along with other companies, engaged in anti-competitive conduct
between March 2003 and November 2004.
Kenneth Hunt, Manpower's chief legal officer, said the council's
decision and imposition of the fine was "unwarranted."
"The council's holding that our French operation was broadly
engaged in a concerted practice to avoid competition on price is
not supported by the facts of the case and the fine imposed by the
council is excessive as a measure of the damage to the economy that
the fine is supposed to reflect," he said.
Competitors Adecco SA (ADEN.VX) and Vediorbis also were fined,
but the amounts were less than Manpower's fine.
Hunt added that since 2004, the company has taken steps to
improve its compliance and training program to prevent future
issues. Each of Manpower's 33,000 employees must take an annual
ethics training course.
Manpower took a second-quarter charge of $50 million, or 62
cents a share, to increase its legal reserves, in connection to the
case.
Manpower is one of the world's largest staffing companies,
recruiting roughly five million permanent, temporary and contract
workers each year. Although it is based in the U.S., Manpower
derives two-thirds of its revenue from Europe, one third from
France alone.
But the company has been hurt amid the global recession, since
businesses usually shed temporary workers ahead of permanent
staffers. Manpower said in December that its European business had
been deteriorating rapidly.
Manpower's shares closed Friday at $28.46 and haven't traded
premarket.
-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089;
kerry.grace@dowjones.com
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