39
Annual Report -
2013
-
Vivendi
Group Profile | Businesses |
Litigation
| Risk Factors
1
Free against SFR
On May 21, 2012, Free filed a complaint against SFR with the Paris
Commercial Court. Free is challenging SFR’s model of subsidizing mobile
phone purchases through what Free calls “concealed” consumer loans
and claims this constitutes an unfair and deceptive trade practice.
On January 15, 2013, the Court dismissed Free’s claims and ordered
it to pay to SFR €300,000 in damages for defamation and €100,000 for
costs. Free appealed this decision.
Orange against SFR
On August 10, 2011, Orange filed a claim against SFR before the Paris
Commercial Court. Orange asked the Court to compel SFR to stop
the overflow traffic at the point of interconnection of their respective
networks. On December 10, 2013, SFR was ordered to pay €22,133,512
to Orange. On January 10, 2014, SFR appealed this decision.
Complaint against Orange before the French Competition
Authority
On August 9, 2010, SFR filed a complaint before the French Competition
Authority against Orange for anti-competitive practices on the
professional mobile market. This case is under investigation.
SFR against Orange
On April 24, 2012, SFR filed a complaint against Orange before the Paris
Commercial Court for practices constituting an abuse of its dominant
position in the secondary residence market. On February 12, 2014, the
Paris Commercial Court ordered Orange to pay €51 million in damages.
Complaint lodged with the French Competition Authority by
Orange Réunion, Orange Mayotte, and Outremer Télécom
against Société Réunionnaise du Radiotéléphone (SRR)
Orange Réunion, Orange Mayotte and Outremer Télécom notified the
French Competition Authority about alleged unfair price discrimination
practices implemented by SRR. On September 16, 2009, the French
Competition Authority imposed protective measures on SRR, pending
its decision on the merits.
SRR was required to end price differences that exceed the costs
borne by SRR based on the network called (off-net/on-net). The French
Competition Authority found that SRR had not fully complied with the
order it had imposed and, on January 24, 2012, ordered SRR to pay a
fine of €2 million. With regard to the proceedings on the merits, on
July 31, 2013, SRR signed a statement of no contest to grievances and
a letter of commitments. Accordingly, the Deputy Reporter General will
propose to the College of the French Competition Authority that the fine
incurred by SRR be reduced.
Following the French Competition Authority’s decision
of September 16, 2009, Outremer Télécom sued SRR on June 17, 2013,
before the Paris Commercial Court for damages it claims to have
suffered as a result of SRR’s practices. On November 13, 2013, the Court
stayed the proceedings until the French Competition Authority issues its
decision on the merits of the case.
Complaint of Bouygues Telecom against SFR and Orange in
Connection with the Call Termination and Mobile Markets
Bouygues Telecom brought a claim before the French Competition
Council against SFR and Orange for certain alleged unfair trading
practices in the call termination and mobile markets (“price scissoring”).
On May 15, 2009, the French Competition Authority (the “Authority”)
resolved to postpone its decision on the issue and remanded the case
for further investigation. On December 13, 2010, SFR was heard on
these allegations by the instructing magistrate. On August 18, 2011,
SFR received a notification of grievances in which the Authority
noted the existence of abusive price discrimination practices.
On December 13, 2012, the Authority fined SFR €66 million. SFR has
appealed this decision. The case was argued before the Paris Court of
Appeal on February 20, 2014.
Following the decision of the French Competition Authority on
December 13, 2012, Bouygues Telecom, OMEA and El Telecom (NRJ
Mobile) brought a claim before the Paris Commercial Court against SFR
for damages suffered. They are seeking damages of €623.6 million,
€67.9 million and €28.6 million, respectively. SFR strongly disputes the
validity and the amount, which Vivendi believes cannot, in any case,
exceed €250 million in total, of these claims. Pending the decision
of the Paris Court of Appeal, the mediation process underway in the
Paris Commercial Court between Bouygues Telecom and SFR has been
suspended.
UFC against SFR
On June 7, 2012, the French Federal Union of Consumers (UFC) filed a
complaint against SFR before the Paris Court of First Instance (
Tribunal
de Grande Instance de Paris
). It alleges that the general conditions
of use of SFR’s
La Carte
offering contain abusive clauses, which it is
seeking to have removed.
CLCV against SFR and Others
On January 7, 2013, the French consumer protection association, CLCV
(consumption, housing and quality of life) sued several French telecom
operators, including SFR, before the Paris Tribunal of First Instance.
It is seeking the removal of certain clauses that it considers abusive
from subscription contracts.
Employee Litigation Arising from the Transfer of Customer
Relations Centers in Toulouse, Lyon, and Poitiers
Following the transfer of the customer relations centers located in
Toulouse and Lyon to the Company Infomobile, and the center in
Poitiers to a subsidiary of the Bertelsmann Group, former employees
of these sites filed complaints with the industrial tribunals (
Conseils
de Prud’hommes
) of each of these cities, claiming unfair execution of
their employment contracts and fraudulent breach of Article L. 1224-1 of
the French Labor Code and the legal provisions relating to dismissal on
economic grounds. The findings of the courts on this issue in 2013 were
not consistent; the Court of Appeal of Toulouse sanctioned the SFR and
Teleperformance groups in half of the cases while the courts of Poitiers
and Lyon rendered judgments which were favorable to SFR. The cases
are at different stages of the appeal process.
Litigation involving Vivendi subsidiaries
