Renault reaches settlement with wrongfully fired managers

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• Bertrand Rochette
• Matthieu Tenenbaum
• Michel Balthazard
• Renault

PARIS -- Renault said it reached a compensation agreement with three executives it wrongfully accused of spying and dismissed in January.

Matthieu Tenenbaum, formerly deputy head of the group's electric vehicle program, has accepted the company's offer to return and will be joining Renault's strategy and planning unit May 2, the company said.

Michel Balthazard, formerly senior vice-president of advance engineering, and Balthazard's number two, Bertrand Rochette, declined reinstatement.

Renault fired the three executives in January, saying its high-profile electric vehicle project had been targeted by an international spy network. Later it admitted it had been tricked and said the men did nothing wrong and there was no spying.

Balthazard, a 30-year Renault veteran and highest ranking of the fired executives, won't rejoin the carmaker.

Renault earlier this month accepted the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Patrick Pelata, who took the flak for the fiasco. Pelata will take a role in the Renault-Nissan alliance.

The French automaker gave no financial details of the settlement with the executives.

Sources: Bloomberg News, Reuters

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