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CRIME

Lidl faces fines for spying on staff

Discount supermarket giant Lidl is due to be fined several million euros with several German state governments expected to hand down punitive decisions this month, according to a report in Der Spiegel this weekend.

Lidl faces fines for spying on staff
Photo:DPA

Lidl managers sparked a scandal early this year by spying on their staff, using spy video systems in stores, and in some cases even private detectives.

Several hundred pages of evidence were leaked to Stern magazine, showing records were kept of when members of staff were going to the toilet, assessments of their personal appearance and even details of private telephone conversations.

At least eight Lidl shops were involved in breaking privacy rules, largely in Lower Saxony and other northern regions.

Data protection officials in North Rhine Westphalia alone are set to impose five fines for spying, unauthorised video surveillance or long-term data preservation. Three further fines are due from that state because Lidl failed to appoint its own data protection representative.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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