After a lengthy inquiry into a wave of suicides at France Telecom, the Paris prosecutor has recommended that its former chief executive and other key figures are put on trial for bullying, reports the BBC.
At least 19 people are known to taken their lives in 2008 and 2009 as the company cut thousands of jobs.
Judicial sources say the company and ex-boss Didier Lombard are suspected of using a policy of unsettling staff to speed up job losses.
France Telecom became Orange in 2013.
It will now be up to an examining judge to decide whether or not to order a trial. But if it goes ahead it would be the first trial in France for bullying (moral harassment) of such a large company.
As well as the former CEO, other figures could also face trial including his right-hand man Louis-Pierre Wenès, human resources head Olivier Barberot and four other directors.
In 2006, Mr Lombard announced plans to cut 22,000 jobs and move another 14,000 workers, as France Telecom pushed for greater efficiency in the wake of privatisation two years earlier.
According to an internal document cited by French media, he told a high-level meeting that he would "do it one way or another, through the window or through the door".
In submissions made late last month, the Paris prosecutor accuses France Telecom of enacting a policy in 2007 that resulted in unsettling workers and creating a "professional climate that provoked anxiety" at the time of a "delicate restructuring" of the company, a judicial source told AFP news agency.
The true number of suicides involving staff is unclear, but 60 people are thought to have taken their lives over a three-year period, and unions say as many as 35 died in 2008 and 2009.
Officials speak of 19 deaths during the two years, 12 attempted suicides and eight other cases involving depression or related illnesses.