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Ikea faces trial in France for ‘paying to see police files on staff and customers’

French prosecutors are pushing for Ikea France and 15 people, including police officials, to be put on trial on charges of paying for access to police files on employees and customers, a source close to the inquiry said Thursday.

Published: 11 January 2018 16:27 CET
Ikea faces trial in France for 'paying to see police files on staff and customers'

Three former senior Ikea executives including two ex-CEOs are among those charged in an investigation that dates back to 2012, when the furniture giant
was accused of paying for illegal access to police files.

Several Ikea stores across France were searched in connection with accusations that the company paid police for information on certain customers
and employees, particularly workers involved in labour unions.

The Swedish brand's French unit is suspected of buying access to individuals' court and police records and bank details as part of efforts to collect as much information on them as possible.

Four police officials are among the 15 people who have been charged and may be facing trial, along with two former Ikea France chiefs, Jean-Louis Baillot
and Stefan Vanoverbeke, and former CFO Dariusz Rychert.

An investigating judge in the Paris suburb of Versailles now has three months to decide to call a trial over illicit use of personal data and breach
of confidentiality.

The information was allegedly taken from France's STIC file system, which tracks millions of names and personal information about criminals, victims and
even witnesses, and handed to Ikea.

Media reports alleged that Ikea France requested information on employees including union members, the owners of certain car registrations and names
associated with a list of mobile phone numbers.

In one case the company allegedly asked for personal information on a customer who was suing it for 4,000 euros.

Sofiane Hakiki, lawyer for the CGT and FO trade unions and several Ikea staff members, welcomed prosecutors' decision to ask for a trial.

“We hope the case will be accepted by a judge,” she told AFP.

Ikea France declined to comment on the decision, with the company's lawyer Emmanuel Daoud saying only: “Ikea France has cooperated with the judiciary
since the start of this process.”

In the wake of the allegations, Ikea France fired four employees, opened an internal inquiry and established a code of conduct to avoid a repeat of the scandal.

The company has 33 stores in France employing 10,000 people.

WEATHER

Danish Ikea store shelters staff and customers overnight during snowstorm

Heavy snowfall left 31 people looking for a spare cushion at the Aalborg branch of Ikea on Wednesday as they were forced to spend the night at the store.

Published: 2 December 2021 09:11 CET
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021.
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Anyone who has found themselves wandering the mazy aisles of an Ikea might be able to empathise with the sense of being lost in the furniture store for a seemingly indefinite time.

Such a feeling was probably more real than usual for six customers and 25 staff members who were forced to spend the night at the furniture giant’s Aalborg branch after being snowed in.

Heavy snow in North Jutland brought traffic to a standstill and halted public transport in parts of the region on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a snow-in at Ikea.

“This is certainly a new situation for us,” Ikea Aalborg store manager Peter Elmose told local media Nordjyske, which first reported the story.

“It’s certainly not how I thought my day would end when I drove to work this morning,” Elmose added.

The 31 people gathered in the store’s restaurant area and planned to see Christmas television and football to pass the evening, the store’s manager reported to Nordjyske.

“Our kitchen staff have made sure there is hot chocolate, risalamande, pastries, soft drinks, coffee and the odd beer for us in light of the occasion. So we’ll be able to keep warm,” he said.

“We couldn’t just send them outside and lock the door behind them at our 8pm closing time. Absolutely not. So of course they’ll be staying here,” he added.

The temporary guests were given lodging in different departments of the store in view of the Covid-19 situation, Nordjyske writes.

“For us , the most important thing was to take care of each other and that everyone feels safe,” Elmose said.

At least Ikea’s stranded customers and staff had somewhere comfortable to lay their heads.

The same can unlikely be said for around 300 passengers at the city’s airport who had to stay overnight at the terminal.

The airport was forced to stop flights from 2:30pm yesterday amid worsening weather, which also prevented buses from transferring passengers to hotels.

“We have around 300 people in the terminal right now and have been giving out blankets on the assumption they will be staying here tonight,” Aalborg Airport operations manager Kim Bermann told Nordjyske.

READ ALSO: Ikea reopens in Denmark after country’s worst retail month this century

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