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VERSAILLES: The French branch of Swedish retail giant IKEA goes to trial on Monday (March 22) accused of running an elaborate system to spy on staff members and job applicants using private detectives and police officers.
IKEA France, as a corporate entity, will be in the dock, as well as several of its former executives who risk being sentenced to prison.
French investigative publications Le Canard Enchaine and Mediapart uncovered the surveillance plan in 2012, and prosecutors intervened in the case after the Force Ouvriere union filed a legal complaint.
Prosecutors say IKEA France established a “spy system” at all of its operations across the country, gathering information on the private lives of hundreds of staff and potential staff members, including confidential information on criminal records.
Since the media disclosures broke out, the company has fired four executives, but IKEA France, which employs 10,000 people, still faces a fine of up to € 3.75 million (US $ 4.5 million).
The 15 people who also appeared in court in Versailles, near Paris, include former store managers and top executives such as former CEO Stefan Vanoverbeke and his predecessor, Jean-Louis Baillot.
The group also includes four police officers accused of handing over confidential information.
The charges include illegal collection of personal information, receipt of illegally collected personal information, and violation of professional confidentiality, some of which carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
“GET RID OF THAT PERSON”
At the heart of the system is Jean-Francois Paris, former director of risk management at IKEA France.
Prosecturs says it regularly sent lists of names for investigation to private investigators, whose combined annual bill could amount to 600,000 euros, according to court documents seen by AFP.
The court is investigating IKEA’s practices between 2009 and 2012, but prosecutors say they began nearly a decade earlier.
Among his targets was a staff member in Bordeaux “who used to be a model employee, but has suddenly become a protester,” according to an email sent by Paris. “We want to know how that change happened,” he said, wondering if there could be “a risk of ecoterrorism.”
In another case, Paris wanted to know how an employee could afford to “drive a new BMW convertible.”
These messages generally went to Jean-Pierre Fources, the head of the surveillance company Eirpace. He would then send confidential information to Paris that prosecutors say he obtained from the STIC police database with the help of the four officers.
Prosecutors say the flow of information may have gone both ways, with an internal IKEA France document recommending turning over your report on an employee to the police “to get rid of that person through legal procedure outside the company.” .
Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer for IKEA France, acknowledged that the case had revealed “organizational weaknesses” at IKEA France.
He said that he had since implemented an action plan, including a complete overhaul of recruitment procedures.
“Regardless of what the court rules, the company has already been punished very severely in terms of its reputation,” he said.
Founded in 1943, the Swedish multinational IKEA is famous for its ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories, which are sold in around 400 stores around the world.
