Ikea France in the dock for ‘spying on staff and problem customers’

Ikea France is in the dock along with 15 defendants accused of spying on staff and customers in 2012

Credit:  Remy de la Mauviniere/AP

Ikea France went on trial on Monday along with 15 people accused of spying on staff and “difficult” customers using private detectives and police officers.

Some of the charges carry a maximum prison term of 10 years.

The case first came to light in 2012 when unionists leaked their legal complaints to investigative journalists.

One accusation alleged that Ikea France used unauthorised data to try to catch an employee who had claimed unemployment benefits but drove a Porsche. 

Another says the subsidiary investigated an employee’s criminal record to determine how the employee was able to own a BMW on a low income.

Customers the company was in a dispute with also allegedly had their personal information inappropriately accessed.

Prosecutors say Ikea France gathered information on hundreds of existing staff and job applicants, including confidential data on criminal records, as part of a "spying system".

Union members and their representatives were among those targeted, prosecutors allege.

"This trial must set an example," said Adel Amara, a former Force Ouvrière union rep at an Ikea store.

Ikea France, which employs 10,000 people, faces a fine of up to €3.75 million (£).

Defendants include former store managers and top executives such as former CEO Stefan Vanoverbeke and his predecessor, Jean-Louis Baillot, who were both present on Monday.

The group also includes four police officers accused of handing over confidential information.

"We’re here to today to show that there are these types of actions inside companies that police trade unions and above all their employees," said a senior member of the hard-left CGT union.

Ikea denies spying but did say the case had highlighted 'organisational weaknesses'

Credit:  Christophe Ena/AP

Prosecutors allege that Jean-Francois Paris, Ikea France’s former director of risk management, was at the heart of the system.

They say he frequently sent lists of names to private investigators, whose combined annual bill could run up to €600,000, according to court documents seen by AFP.

The court is investigating Ikea’s practices between 2009 and 2012, but prosecutors say they started nearly a decade earlier.

Among staff allegedly snooped on was an until-then model Bordeaux employee who managers thought may in fact pose an “eco-terrorism” threat.

Information requests were usually went to Jean-Pierre Foures, the boss of surveillance company Eirpace, who would then glean data from the police database STIC with the help of the four officers, say prosecutors.

They said that sometimes Ikea France would send an incriminating file on an employee to police "to get rid of that person via a legal procedure outside the company”.

At the time, Ikea France swiftly apologised for practices it said were “not up to our values or ethical standards”. Ikea fired four executives in France after the criminal probe was opened.

On Monday, Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer for Ikea France, rejected the spying accusations, but acknowledged that the case had revealed "organisational weaknesses”.

The company had revamped its hiring and security procedures, he said.

"Whatever the court rules, the company has already been punished very severely in terms of its reputation," he said ahead of the trial.

The trial continues.