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Julian Reichelt in September 2019
Photo: Michael Kappeler / dpa
Julian Reichelt has not been editor-in-chief of the "Bild" newspaper since last October.
But his time at the top of the tabloid medium and the extensive compliance investigations due to his dealings with employees are still hanging behind the Springer publishing house.
The company is now threatened with legal consequences.
According to SPIEGEL information, a former employee of the "Bild" newspaper has filed a lawsuit in a Californian court against the medium and a subsidiary of the Axel Springer publishing house.
Among other things, it is about the allegation of sexual harassment.
SPIEGEL described the specific allegations last fall, and the person concerned was also heard as part of the external investigation by the Freshfields law firm.
The lawsuit was first reported by "Zeit" and the online portal "Medieninsider".
Risks for Springer-Verlag
For Springer, the legal case is delicate.
Firstly, there are stricter rules for dealing with managers and employees in the USA, and high claims for damages are not uncommon in similar cases.
Secondly, the publisher is working flat out on its business activities in the USA – and attaches great importance to a clean image.
In 2021, the head of the publishing house, Mathias Döpfner, took over the US medium »Politico« for the estimated purchase price of one billion dollars. Springer had previously bought the business portal »Business Insider«.
The Julian Reichelt affair has been occupying the group for more than a year.
In March 2021, Springer initially released him due to a compliance investigation, but reinstated him a little later - because it was not justified, »Julian Reichelt due to the errors in official and personnel management identified in the investigation - which are not of a criminal nature - from to relieve him of his post as Editor-in-Chief."
Finally, last October, he was relieved of his duties with immediate effect.
As a result of press research, the company "gained new insights into Julian Reichelt's current behavior," it said at the time.
Even after the completion of the compliance procedure, he "did not clearly separate private and professional matters and told the Management Board an untruth about it."
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