The trial of Ikea’s French subsidiary, accused of setting up an illegal surveillance system for its employees, including union members, began this Monday in a criminal court in Versailles, near Paris.
The subsidiary of the Swedish furniture giant – processed as a legal entity and legally represented by its CEO and CFO Karine Havas – he faces a fine of up to 3.75 million euros ($ 4.4 million).
Fifteen people are also on trial, including store managers, police officers and former executives such as former CEO Stefan Vanoverbeke (2010-2015) and his predecessor Jean-Louis Baillot.
The case, revealed in 2012 by the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné and the information website Mediapart, He was denounced by a union and caused the resignation of four senior executives of the company.
According to the Versailles prosecutor’s office, the investigation revealed the existence of an “espionage system” of employees but also of job applicants that spread across the country.
According to the indictment, information was collected from hundreds of people, including union members, and their criminal records and lifestyle were carefully analyzed.
This is a judgment that must be exemplary “, Adel Amara, former FO union representative in an Ikea store in Franconville, Val-d’Oise, said before the hearing.
“We are here today to show that there are these kinds of maneuvers in companies that control unions and especially workers,” said Amar Lagha, general secretary of the CGT union in the trade and services sector.
But according to some defense attorneys, the investigation has many weaknesses. Olivier Baratelli, attorney to former human resources director Claire Héry, dI said he would argue for the nullity of the case and expose a “fable made up by the unions”.
The trial will last until April 2.
Lists of people
The defendants will include those of the illegal collection and disclosure of personal information, violation of professional secrecy and the concealment of these crimes, exposing some of them to a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
The defendants appear for events in the period 2009-2012, but these practices date back to the early 2000s, the prosecution said.
At the heart of this “system” was Jean-François Paris, former director of risk management at Ikea France, who attended the hearing on Monday.
According to the investigation, Paris sent lists of people who “needed to investigate” to private investigation companies to which the Ikea subsidiary allocated a budget of between $ 30,000 and $ 600,000 per year (between $ 35,000 and $ 715,000).
These lists, which the former director claims to have received from store managers, were sent to Jean-Pierre Foures, director of the “business consulting” company Eirpace.
Jean-Pierre Foures is also accused of using the so-called STIC (Recorded Crime Handling System), an automated police file, through police officers, to access confidential data.
However, the four police officers involved in the investigation made sure that they had not received any financial compensation.