The French subsidiary of Swedish home furnishing giant Ikea and several of its former executives went on trial on Monday on charges that they have run a comprehensive system for illegally spying on customers, employees and job seekers.
Four former Ikea France executives, former store managers, four police officers and the head of a French private investigation company were among the 15 people in a courtroom in Versailles, south of Paris, on Monday.
They face charges related to incidents revealed by French publications Canard Enchaîne and Mediapart 2012, after which the union Force Ouvirère took legal action for alleged collection and disclosure of personal data and information by fraudulent means.
Prosecutors now say Ikea France has run a “espionage system” that illegally collects the privacy of hundreds of current and potential staff, including confidential criminal record information.
After the criminal probe was launched in 2012, the company fired four executives, one of whom accused the management of having a budget for such investigations.
“Since the disclosure of the facts in 2012, Ikea France has firmly condemned and apologized for a situation that seriously undermines the company’s values and ethical standards,” the company said in a statement released on Monday.
Luxury cars
At the heart of the alleged espionage system is Jean-Francois Paris, Ikea France’s former head of risk management, who prosecutors accuse of regularly sending lists of names of individuals to be examined to private investigators.
Such investigations are said to involve trying to figure out how an employee who claimed unemployment benefits could drive a Porsche and how another could afford a low-income BMW.
In another case, Paris wanted to know how an employee of Bordeaux went from being a “model employee” to “a protester” whom he suspected presented “a risk of eco-terrorism”, according to the court’s email register.
The company is also accused of incorrect access to personal information about customers who had disputes with it.
Prosecutors said such inquiries went to the head of a private surveillance company who allegedly paid four police officers for information contained in confidential databases.
According to court documents quoted by news agencies, Paris told judges that up to 600,000 euros a year were reserved for such investigations and that his department was responsible for handling it.
Finger pointed to former CEO
The accusations relate to incidents that are alleged to occur from 2009 to 2012, but prosecutors said that espionage methods began in the early 2000s.
Former CEO Jean-Louis Baillot and Stefan Vanoverbeke, former CFO Dariusz Rychert, the private investigator, some store managers and the four police officers are also on trial.
Paris told French media in 2012 that Baillot personally pushed the idea, which meant that private investigators were placed in certain stores to spy on suspected troublemakers. Baillot said at the time that the allegations were “grotesque”.
If convicted, he and Vanoverbeke will each be sentenced to up to ten years in prison and fined 750,000 euros. Before the trial, Baillot’s lawyer, Francois Saint-Pierre, told AFP that the former CEO “wanted to appear before the court”.
Some defense lawyers said they would question the trial, including Olivier Baratelli, a lawyer for a former chief of staff, who claimed the casing was “a fable designed by unions”.
Damage to reputation
Ikea France, which employs more than 10,000 people in 34 stores, an e-commerce website and a customer support center, faces a maximum penalty of 3.75 million euros and potential damages from civil lawsuits.
“It seems inconceivable that a company of this size, with several stores in different countries, would not be aware of the illegality of the private information available,” prosecutors said according to court documents.
Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer for the firm, acknowledged that the case had revealed “organizational weaknesses” in Ikea France, which had since been addressed by an action plan and a modernization of recruitment procedures.
“No matter what the court decides, the company has already been punished very severely in terms of its reputation,” he said.
The trial is scheduled for April 2.
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Source: sn.dk