Schlesinger and the broadcaster want to come to an agreement

In the legal dispute between the former director Patricia Schlesinger and the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) over Schlesinger’s pension claims and the broadcaster’s high claims for damages, both sides are striving for an agreement. After the hearing at the Berlin Regional Court on Wednesday, the lawyers for Schlesinger and the RBB stated that they wanted to reach an agreement in settlement negotiations.

The two parties followed a suggestion from presiding judge Thomas Markfort. He also named the announcement date for the verdict, which would be based on a successful mediation: May 31st. If the board of directors of the public broadcaster follows the judge’s ruling, the civil dispute will be over.

It is still unclear whether an agreement will be reached. However, the court indicated in its comments that it recommended an agreement in view of what would otherwise be a very lengthy procedure. The files now fill 5,000 pages. The presiding judge indicated that RBB would probably have to pay the contractually agreed pension. This is about lifelong pension payments. He definitely sees a litigation risk on the part of the RBB.

At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that the broadcaster’s claims for damages are justified. The question therefore arises as to whether an agreement should be reached or whether the path should be taken through the authorities.

Schlesinger’s lawyer Thomas Wahlig previously outlined the results of an “overall agreement” that he and his client can imagine. The retired director’s pension would then amount to a total payment for 2024 and the start date of the monthly transfer on January 1, 2025. The pension to which Schlesinger is entitled according to his employment contract amounts to 18,300 euros per month, which is why Schlesinger would forego 330,000 euros due to the delayed start date of the payment. With further payments resulting from the broadcaster’s claims for damages, Schlesinger’s total amount in favor of the RBB would amount to around 360,000 euros.

The Schlesinger scandal not only damaged the RBB

Patricia Schlesingers was removed as director by the Broadcasting Council on August 15, 2022 and dismissed without notice on August 22. The main allegations were mismanagement, improper bonus payments, private trips and dinner invitations, which were billed at the broadcaster’s expense; The expensive renovation of the executive suite and a massage chair in the company car also resulted in real excitement, the financial consequences of which brought the RBB to the brink of its existence. While in the latency phase of the scandal the focus was only on the broadcasting company for Berlin and Brandenburg, as the investigation and investigation progressed, it expanded to question the entire public service system.

The trial against Patricia Schlesinger, now 63 years old, is only the finale of the trials against the board of directors at the time, although not all legal disputes have been resolved.

After the trial, Schlesinger’s lawyer Thomas Wahlig expressed his satisfaction that the court “largely followed his arguments.” The plaintiff, who was initially very serious, also seemed much more relaxed at this point. She avoided inquiries from various media, the hall in the regional court was filled to capacity, and her husband Gerhard Spörl, who followed the trial in the front row after the break, was already waiting for her.

Since her termination, the journalist only had an income of 25,000 euros per month from February to November 2023. According to Tagesspiegel information, she worked for MK-Kliniken AG, which operates nursing homes and assisted living facilities for seniors. It would probably be wrong to imagine Patricia Schlesinger as penniless, but the now very high legal and legal costs must be offset against the expected retirement benefit.

The RBB lawyer is also suing his client

In her civil lawsuit, the former RBB director demanded payment of this monthly 18,300 euros for 30 years of work in the public service. The RBB responded with a counterclaim to claim millions in damages. Specifically, the broadcaster is currently demanding more than two million euros from Schlesinger, the court said. In addition, the RBB requested a declaration that the plaintiff is obliged to compensate for all damages that have arisen or will arise as a result of breaches of duty “during the planning and implementation of a construction project”. The construction project is the now abandoned “Digital Media House”. Numerous breaches of duty are documented here, which justify claims for damages.

RBB’s lawyer, René Weißflog, argued in the trial that Schlesinger, as director, had implemented a bonus model developed by the consulting firm Kienbaum, according to which other executives were paid performance-related bonuses. Since this bonus model was not formally decided by the RBB Board of Directors as the responsible body, she would have violated her duties as director. The RBB suffered damage amounting to around 1.3 million euros as a result of the additional payments. During the course of the trial, however, the impression emerged that Schlesinger was held liable for behavior and an artistic director’s contract – Weißflog called it “immoral” – that the RBB board of directors, i.e. its then Wolf-Dieter Wolf, had concluded with her. At times it seemed as if the RBB lawyer was suing the station.

It also could not be viewed in favor of the RBB representatives that the number of damages caused by Schlesinger’s mismanagement was meticulously recorded on 80 pages, but could not be combined into a total damage amount until the day of the trial.

Independent of this civil case at the Berlin Regional Court, the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating the RBB scandal for some time, including against the ex-director. The evaluation is ongoing, as a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said.