Enlarge image
Harley-Davidson branch in Cologne (archive): "This is not the case here in our country"
Photo: Christoph Hardt / Future Image / IMAGO
Actually, this choice of words didn't surprise him that much, said Ocak.
Something like this happens regularly on Twitter.
"I was shocked that Harley-Davidson wrote something like that."
Onur Ocak has been working in the legal department of the Ver.di union for three years and is currently representing a client who worked as a saleswoman for Harley-Davidson in Cologne, he told SPIEGEL.
In a letter he asked for information about his client's salary.
She wanted to clarify why a payment was lower than she had expected.
The answer from the Harley-Davidson branch: It may be the practice in the country you come from to merely insure a power of attorney, but this is not the case here in our country.
And, if your title is actually genuine, you know that too. ”Ocak had written that his client had given him the power of attorney to do so, and he handed it in later.
He decided to post the branch's response on Twitter.
Ocak came to Germany with his parents from Turkey in 1989; they had fought against the military dictatorship and applied for asylum because they had been politically persecuted.
Ocak has had German citizenship since 2001, he studied and did his doctorate in Bielefeld.
Threats from Cologne
Harley-Davidson distances itself from the incident.
“There is no place for racism, hatred or intolerance in the Harley-Davidson community or anywhere else. This is profoundly contrary to our corporate philosophy.
We will investigate the case internally and take all the necessary steps and consequences, "the company's marketing manager wrote in a letter to SPIEGEL.
But in the meantime Ocak has received another letter, an email from the Cologne branch.
It says, "if it should turn out that you are (directly or indirectly) behind this 'campaign', you can be sure that you will not only lose your license to practice as a lawyer."