Shareholders give Big Brother Award to Bayer AG

By EDRi · May 7, 2003

Critical shareholders of the German medicine-company Bayer AG have
presented the Big Brother Award to the board during the annual shareholders
meeting in Cologne on 25 April 2003. The Award was given to the company in
October 2002 for demanding a drug test from every employee applying for
in-company training. Bayer did not bother to come to the award ceremony,
but members of FoeBuD, the organisers of the German Big Brother Award,
happily welcomed the opportunity to come to the board.

According to the jury report, the practice of demanding a urine sample from
every employee applying for in-company training is disproportional, the
result prone to mistakes, degrading and a very heavy invasion of the
privacy of all male and female employees. Though officially participation
to the drug test is voluntary, without consent the chances of getting an
education are minimal.

Full jury-report in German (25.10.2002)
http://www.big-brother-award.de/2002/.work/