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Ikea trial: unions and (ex-) leaders clash at the bar

2021-03-26T17:01:23.201Z


REPORT OF THE HEARING - The former CEO of the French subsidiary of the Swedish giant in particular denied having set up a "generalized espionage system".


Finally.

On the fourth day of the Ikea trial, the last devoted to debates before pleadings begin next Monday, the former director general of Ikea France was heard by the Versailles criminal court.

With his loose pants and his blue crew-neck sweater, Jean-Louis B. contrasts with the other defendants, mostly senior executives, who appeared dressed in a sophisticated manner at the bar.

No one could imagine seeing this retired 60-year-old that he managed the French subsidiary of the Swedish furniture giant from 1996 to 2009, before taking over the management of the Ikea group's international commercial operations until May 2012.

Read also: Suspected of having "fled" employees and customers, Ikea facing justice

2012, the year of the scandal and the dismissal of Jean-Louis B. Following a complaint lodged by a trade union organization on February 29, Ikea is questioned for having set up an "

organized espionage system

" mainly concerning employees and hiring candidates, but also a few clients.

Justice then opens an investigation.

During his police custody in March 2012, Jean-François P., the director of the risk management department, affirms that the instruction to carry out background searches in a systematic way when opening new stores comes from Jean-Louis B. This instruction would have been formulated during a lunch in 2006.

"It's ridiculous"

"The famous meal ... You imagine the general manager of Ikea accompanied by the HRD and the risk director going to the company restaurant of Plaisir to discuss such a sensitive subject alongside all the employees, while we has the seat next door with all our meeting rooms?

It's ridiculous, grotesque.

I do not even know how one can say such nonsense "

, gets carried away the native of Paris, who denies

" absolutely "to

have established such a system, or even to have been aware of it.

"Could Jean-François P. have taken such an initiative himself?"

, asks the president.

"Yes"

, replies the defendant.

"For ten years?"

, continues the magistrate.

"Yes.

He was able to do that on his own, ”

insists Jean-Louis B.

To read also: Ikea trial: the mea-culpa of the framework at the heart of "mass controls"

The defendant also sweeps the issue of invoices related to background research, which he himself countersigned according to the principle of “four eyes” in force at Ikea.

“When faced with an invoice, I look at two things: the amount and who signed.

There, I see the signature of Jean-François P., I see the amount, which is very low

[a few hundred euros, Editor's note]

.

I sometimes sign invoices for 100,000 euros!

I'm not here to check the bills.

I sign."

The title of one of these documents -

“morality investigation”

- could have alerted him, however, notes a civil party lawyer.

"I have not seen it!"

, annoys the former leader.

"They called me 'the robber'"

Stefan V., general manager of Ikea France from 2010 to 2015 following Jean-Louis B. and today vice-president of world trade of the group, assures him:

“It is very unfortunate what happened. , but for me it is not an Ikea policy ”

.

The current general manager of the French subsidiary confirms by evoking

"actions completely in contradiction with the values ​​of Ikea and the ethical requirements in force",

recalls that a

"large-scale action plan"

has been launched after the discovery of the facts and underlines that the company now wishes to be

"turned towards the future"

.

Read also: Ikea trial: the hunt for responsibilities

“The only thing that matters to Ikea is its brand image.

I think they are in apnea and they can not wait for this trial to end to move on

,

rebounds Hocine R. The CGT representative, who has worked at Ikea for 18 years, has the distinction of being the one who lodged a complaint in February 2012 ... and for having himself been the subject of research in 2003.

“One day, my boss criticized me for not having said that I had a criminal record.

I actually had a namesake who had committed an armed robbery.

To reassure my supervisor, I myself requested an extract from my record and provided it to the company.

It made people laugh a lot, they called me “the robber”!

But years later, I realized it was much more serious than that. ”

Today, in fact, nobody laughs: the defendants face one to ten years in prison.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-03-26

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