The French branch of IKEA and several former executives of the company are in court on Monday over an old espionage case. According to the French justice, the furniture giant has hired private detectives to collect data from its own employees and applicants.
The case came to light in 2012 after reporting by the French weekly Canard Enchaîné. That wrote that between 2009 and 2012 the company monitored employees through a “structured espionage system”. This mainly concerned employees who had fallen out of favor with the French branch of IKEA.
Among the fifteen suspects are the former CEO of IKEA France, Stefan Vanoverbeke, and his successor, Jean-Louis Baillot. They risk a prison sentence, IKEA itself a fine.
In addition to various drivers, four police officers must also appear in court in Versailles on Monday. They are suspected of having passed on confidential information to the company. IKEA would have paid eighty euros at a time for access to private data.
After the case came to light, the furniture giant swept the broom through the French administration. The company fired the former executive director, chief of human resources, finance director and risk manager, among others.
600,000 euros per year to private detectives
The court documents state, among other things, that the IKEA office in France spent 600,000 euros a year on private detectives. For example, the hired detectives had to figure out how an employee could afford a new convertible.
In another case, the key question was how it was possible that an employee who was previously known as exemplary could turn into a “troublemaker”. The detectives were also asked to find out whether the employee might be “at risk of eco-terrorism”.
The company’s lawyer has acknowledged that the case exposed “organizational weaknesses” within IKEA’s French arm. The furniture giant, which has 34 stores in France, has made changes and has been punished enough in the form of reputational damage.
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