Reformed Zorggroep dismisses six employees who made ‘humiliating’ images of clients

The Reformed Care Group Sirjon has fired six employees who have made ‘inappropriate’ images and shared from clients with intellectual disabilities. The organization reports this on Wednesday after an investigation into ‘serious violations of privacy and dignity of clients’.

It concerns six employees of an institution in the South Holland village of Bodegraven. Last week Sirjon made the business public, the employees were immediately suspended. They would have made ‘disrespectful and humiliating’ images that they shared through a private Snapchat group. What exactly can be seen remains unclear. It is not about images of a sexual nature, the company reported last week.

« Defendering employees is a tough decision, » writes Jan van Ginkel, chairman of the Sirjon Board of Directors, an organization with a pronounced reformational basis, on Wednesday in a declaration. « From our Christian perspective we believe in grace and forgiveness. At the same time, this situation requires to do justice to those who are vulnerable. Forgiveness does not exclude justice. » Sirjon has also reported the staff members.

The Zorggroep also reports that there are ‘signals’ that the Snapchat group has been around since 2019 and that there were more members in it than they initially thought. « Furthermore, there is a suspicion that the images are also shared on a limited scale outside that private group, » writes Sirjon.

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