Time.news – A French court has ordered a Ikea to pay a 1 million euro fine for illegally collecting and filing for years i personal data of its local employees and some customers. The Swedish furniture manufacturer, which has admitted improper business practices, is accused, among other things, of violating employee privacy by accessing their bank account details and using bogus employees to compile staff reports, Reuters explains.
The appeal was filed by labor unions, according to which the information was used to target trade unionists in disputes or to gain advantage in customer disputes. Ikea, which employs around 10,000 people in France, has apologized and assured that it has launched a “great plan of action” to prevent the repetition of similar episodes. The prosecutor had asked for a two million euro fine.
The time frame under investigation is from 2009 to 2012. The former CEO of Ingka, the company that owns the French Ikea stores in franchising, Louis Baillot, was sentenced to two years in prison with parole and a 50,000 euro fine. Several managers of the group were fired when, in 2012, cases of espionage against employees emerged.
.