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The Pirkanmaa District Court convicted the former K-retailer of an occupational safety offense and employment discrimination. The crimes took place in 2015-2017 in K-Supermarket Villilä, Tampere.
According to the district court, the trader in his fifties had, among other things, shouted at his three employees, blamed them unjustifiably and pressured them to catch the beer thieves who had traded. In addition, the man had supervised his subordinates through a surveillance camera and ordered them to come to work sick.
The workers told the court that the merchant had even made the workers cry. Complaints had come about, among other things, poor sales and breaks. The actions of the employees had been constantly monitored through surveillance cameras, and the merchant might have called as soon as he discovered something of what he considered to be an error.
According to the employees, the trader had also, for example, questioned the grounds for their sick leave and denied them an existing connection outside working hours.
He was also charged with improper contact
The prosecutor said the man had also touched at least one of the workers unnecessarily from the body area and made sexually suggestive hints.
The alleged sexual harassment in the trade rose prominently in the news already in 2017.
Also, the three women involved in the lawsuit demanded punishment for the man on the grounds that the man had behaved in a sexually undesirable manner towards them. However, according to the law, there was insufficient evidence of this.
Fines and thousands of compensation
The Pirkanmaa District Court fined the merchant for an occupational safety offense and employment discrimination.
As a punishment, the man received a 50-day fine, of which he was left with 950 euros to pay. The company that ran the deal was ordered to pay a community fine of 4,000 euros. The merchant is the CEO of the company.
A man has to pay 1,200 euros to each employee for the suffering caused by employment discrimination. In addition, he was ordered to pay compensation to the trio also for an occupational safety offense. The amount of compensation varies between EUR 2,000 and EUR 3,000, and a company convicted of an occupational safety offense must also take part in it.
The merchant and the company he represented denied the charges. According to the trader, there had been no occupational safety offense or employment discrimination. The man largely disagreed with all the allegations made by the employees regarding his misconduct.
The man no longer works as a merchant. He resigned in 2017.
The judgment given last Monday is not final, ie it can be appealed to the Court of Appeal.