One thing you probably underestimate is that the relationship between employer and employee is very different in France wrt, say, UK/US/Canada.
France has something called "job loyalty." After the ~6 months trial period, a good employee will typically never quit their job, because this would be breaking a bond that is nearly as strong as that of marriage. The employer is, of course, expected to do treat employees as best as possible. If economic pressure forces the employer to lay off people, this is a reality of life, and France has laws that forces the employer to make it happen in a humane manner (i.e. fairly large severance check, among other things).
Here, managers decided to cut out on their side of the deal by employing "placardisation", i.e. bullying people out of their job, i.e. bringing these people to nervous breakdown. But culturally, these people couldn't quit. They could only hope that their managers would be replaced by better managers.
So when you're saying that "No one forced these people to either work at the company or to commit suicide" – well, yes, they were forced because that's how everybody is raised in France.