Cargo bike company Babboe, which was ordered to halt sales over safety fears, was out of order for trying to fire a whistle-blowing member of its repair team, a court has ruled.

Babboe said it wanted to fire the man because he “caused conflict”. However, the  judge agreed with the worker, who said he had been dismissed because he complained repeatedly to his bosses about technical problems with the bikes.

The man, who was tasked with repairing faulty bikes, alerted management to problems with broken frames, and other faults, which he said were on his conscience because of the dangers to cyclists and children being ferried around.

“As a father of two children he could no longer cope with what he found,” his lawyer said.

As early as June 7, 2022, the man mailed the management that faulty bikes could lead to “life-threatening situations (..). I keep seeing broken frames, including in the bikes that were not recalled. There are dozens of broken bikes, from 2019, 2020 and 2022.”

Instead of  remedying the situation, management “tried to shut him up and labelled him as as ‘difficult’, his lawyer said.

Babboe said in a reaction it would not contest the decision and is now in talks with the man about his return to the job. His lawyer said the outcome of the case  showed whistleblowers are now better protected.

Last month, Babboe launched a recall for four versions of its popular cargo bike, saying the safety of users cannot be guaranteed. Up to 10,000 bikes are subject to the recall which covers the City, City E, Mini and Mini E labels.

Some 8,500 duped Babboe bike owners have currently reported their problems on a dedicated website in preparation for a mass claim for compensation.