Ikea France on trial for 2012 spying

Former executives and store managers accused after unions reported company

VERSAILLES, France — Ikea’s French subsidiary and several of its former executives went on trial Monday over accusations that they illegally spied on employees and customers.

Trade unions reported the furniture and home goods company to French authorities in 2012, accusing it of collecting personal data by fraudulent means and the illicit disclosure of personal information. The unions alleged that Ikea France paid to gain access to police files that had information about targeted individuals, particularly union activists and customers who were in disputes with Ikea.

The company fired four executives and changed internal policy after French prosecutors opened a criminal probe in 2012. But at Monday’s trial in the Versailles court, lawyers for Ikea France denied any strategy of “generalized espionage.”

An Ikea employee and CGT union activist, Hocine Redouane, said at Monday’s trial that the company wrongly suspected him of being a bank robber because their investigation system found criminal records involving a bank robber with the same name.

Another accusation alleged that Ikea France used unauthorized 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.

Jean-Francois Paris, former head of Ikea France’s risk management department, acknowledged to French judges that $633,000 to $753,000 were earmarked for such investigations. Paris, who is among those accused, said his department was responsible for handling it.

Former Ikea France CEOs Jean-Louis Baillot and Stefan Vanoverbeke, former Chief Financial Officer Dariusz Rychert, store managers and police officers are also going on trial. If convicted, the two ex-CEOs face sentences of up to 10 years in prison and fines of $894,000. Ikea France faces a maximum penalty of $4.5 million. The trial is scheduled to last until April 2.