DusseldorfA record with 950 pages for a mere dismissal protection suit has the Labor Court Braunschweig rather rare on the table. But if on this Monday at 12 o’clock in the hall C in the matter of Stefanie Jauns against Volkswagen is negotiated, the extensive documents are not the only unusual. The dispute of the former senior engine software expert with her former employer raises a spotlight probably the biggest fraud case in the German economy,
The appointment itself will provide a lot of public attention. It is the first hearing in which an earlier VWManager will be able to raise her knowledge about the occurrence and the processes of exhaust gas fraud in detail. Observers expect new insights – both for consumer and shareholder civil litigation and for criminal proceedings.
It is remarkable that the process came about at all. For Volkswagen, it carries some risks. Individual persons familiar with the matter are surprised that the carmaker has let it come so far. At the same time, the group was in the grip of preventing a possible war on roses. An agreement with Jauns and other dismissed should reportedly have been on the verge of graduation.
The matter has been on hold for almost a year: in August 2018, just under three years after the scandal became known, VW had terminated six employees because of their involvement in the exhaust fraud – including as the highest-ranking manager former VW brand management Heinz-Jakob Neußer,
Volkswagen’s Human Resources Director Gunnar Kilian justified the dismissals with “serious misconduct”. The harried managers did not want to let this sit on dismissal protection suit.
Jauns, for example, sees himself as a pawn sacrifice. Her lawyer Till Hoffmann-Remy says: “Ultimately, Volkswagen accuses my client of doing exactly what she was hired to do: helping to develop software features.” The functions could have been used for a variety of purposes. “The decision to use this function just for a reprehensible purpose, but have undoubtedly met others,” says Hoffmann-Remy. VW obviously sees it differently, but the car maker does not want to comment officially.
Process is drawing
The Wolfsburg have their part contributed to the process moved. At the beginning of 2019, several of the terminated hearings were scheduled. None of these came into existence – this was always caused by new pleadings, relocation requests and settlement negotiations in the background.
The position of Volkswagen was meanwhile weaker and the thesis that only a “small circle of offenders” was responsible and the board until the end knew nothing, always fragile. IIn April, the prosecution in Braunschweig brought charges of fraud against Martin Winterkorn and four other defendants, Among the terminated managers is only Heinz-Jakob Neußer.
Also among those who the prosecutors want to see at the dock is the former head of drive electronics. According to the file situation, the IT expert had significant responsibility for the development of the software, which recognized whether the vehicle was on the test stand or on the road.
Ironically, with this manager VW closed a kind of secret contract, which saved the engineer from a termination and secured him ongoing purchases. Meanwhile, this construct is the subject of prosecutorial investigations.
All this will be discussed in the upcoming public employment court cases. Circles familiar with the case report that not only in Jauns case an agreement was imminent. It is talked of intended mutual separations, partly seven-digit sums should flow. Even executives have signaled to give the green light.
It turned out differently: In a brief letter announced the VW-mandated firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer the Labor Court Braunschweig suddenly, it had come to no agreement, a hearing appointment required. VW does not want to comment on request, pointing out that this is an ongoing process.
Apparently there were reasons that made VW rethink. Insider circles see probable cause in a veto of US Warden Larry Thompson. Just over two years ago, the US Department of Justice had given him to the group to deal with the exhaust gas scandal.
Quite swiftly Thompson had urged them to name those responsible for the fraud and to hold them legally accountable. Hard to imagine that it would be in Thompson’s sense, the group should just then back row when it comes to dismissals of responsible VW employees.
Other voices, on the other hand, report claims of the hired managers who were not negotiable for the Group. For example, one of the dismissed had demanded that Volkswagen takes over its own legal fees, even if this is legally convicted. For compliance reasons alone, such a deal would have been intragroup and difficult to communicate to the monitor.
More: Volkswagen employs a number of consultants and law firms to deal with the emissions issue. The fees reach record levels: The consultants cost the group 1.77 billion euros,
*/
]]>
The most important news every morning in your inbox.