The healthcare organization Sirjon has fired six employees for humiliating clients at the residential group De Akker in Bodegraven, Zuid-Holland. The residents of De Akker have the mental capacities of a small child. The employees made images of the clients and shared them in a closed group on Snapchat, NOS reports.
Sirjon is also filing charges against the six employees because their behavior may be punishable. The institute mentions “a serious violation of privacy.” What the images entail is unclear. The healthcare institute described them as explicit, disrespectful, and humiliating, but said that there were no sexual acts, abuse, or coercion. The involved clients’ parents were informed last week. The employees were suspended at the same time.
The healthcare institute said it questioned the involved employees and found “urgent reasons” to dismiss them. “After the investigation and everything that has happened, this is the only right step. This behavior is diametrically opposed to everything we stand for as an organization,” Sirjon board chairman Jan van Ginkel said.
Sirjon also said that the Snapchat group in question may have existed since 2019, but the earliest images it found were made around nine months ago. The group “was slightly larger than initially thought,” and there are signs that the images were “shared outside that closed Snapchat group on a limited scale.” The healthcare institute is, therefore, expanding its investigation and does not rule out more dismissals.