The discount supermarket Lidl was hit with another data scandal this weekend when employees’ personal documents were found in a public waste paper bin. The first scandal occurred at the end of 2008 when it became known that hidden surveillance cameras had been installed in the employees’ restrooms. The scandal lead to a drastic sales collapse for Lidl and a payment of EUR 1.5 million (approx. USD 1.86 million) in fines.

Unfortunately, Lidl does not seem to have learned its lesson from the first scandal. In addition
to the breach of confidentiality involved in disposing of employee records in a public waste paper bin, this recent scandal has also revealed that Lidl required employees to indicate a “reason for illness” when filling out applications for sick time, which is not allowed by German labor law.

The manager of Lidl Germany, Frank-Michael Mros, confirmed the existence of the forms in question and claimed that they had not been used since the beginning of the year. In an interview with the German News Weekly Der Spiegel Mros stated that Lidl “is doing everything possible to ensure that data protection is respected in its branches and offices.”

Several politicians have criticized Lidl’s policy including Green Party leader Claudia Roth who called Lidl’s behavior “a frightening ignorance of justice and law”.