World
The Swedish multinational furniture retail company has been ordered by a French court to pay over $1.2 million in fines and damages.
Updated : Jun 16, 2021, 01:57 PM IST | Edited by : Chitresh Sehgal
 "Furniture brand Ikea found guilty of spying on staff and customers, #BoycottIkea trends on Twitter")
The world’s biggest home furnishings company Ikea has been found guilty of spying on union representatives, employees and some unhappy customers in France. A French court in the city of Versailles upheld the allegations of espionage against Ikea.
A panel of judges found that Ikea France was using an espionage campaign to filter out trouble-maker employees and also profile unhappy customers. The spying activities reportedly took place between 2009 and 2012.
The court convicted two former employees of Ikea’s French subsidiary. Both have been fined and also slapped with suspended prison sentences.
The trial had 13 more defendants of which some were convicted. Others were acquitted.
As per testimony by Jean-François Paris, the Ikea France executive responsible for risk management, the company earmarked 530,000 to 630,000 euros a year for such campaigns.
Paris was the only Ikea France official who admitted to any wrongdoing. He said the orders came directly from former Ikea France CEO Jean-Louis Baillot.
Oh shut up, you pathetic virtue-signalling twerps.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 15, 2021
I’m now boycotting IKEA. https://t.co/8hRc1cPIPi
Furthermore, Ikea France allegedly paid to gain access to police files with information about targeted individuals. The individuals in question were customers and union activists involved in disputes with Ikea.
Ikea France is also facing separate civil lawsuits filed by unions and 74 employees which could amplify the damages.
While several Ikea employees were involved in the campaign, some were also involved in unearthing it. A former Ikea employee who helped expose the scandal, Abel Amara, said that the ruling was "a big step in defense of the citizen....It makes me glad that there is justice in France."
A Paris court has fined IKEA €1million
— Kelvin MacKenzie (@kelvmackenzie) June 16, 2021
for spying on their staff and customers. That's the same company who announced they would would no longer advertise on @GBNEWS due to their anti-woke coverage. My advise to @afneil; reverse the process and ban dodgy advertisers.
The news of Ikea France being found guilty of espionage caused outrage on Twitter as people came down hard on the brand with the hashtag #BoycottIkea.
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