VERSAILLES, France (AP) — A French court has ordered home furnishings giant Ikea to pay more than $1.3 million in fines and damages Tuesday over a campaign to spy on union representatives, employees and some unhappy customers in France. Two former Ikea France executives were convicted and fined and given suspended prison sentences on Tuesday. Among the other 13 defendants, some were acquitted and others given suspended sentences. The panel of judges in Versailles found that Ikea’s French subsidiary used espionage to target employees and customers it considered troublemakers between 2009 and 2012. Trade unions accused Ikea France of collecting personal data through illegally obtained police files. Lawyers for Ikea France denied the company had a “generalized espionage” strategy.
