730,000 euros in damages: Regensburg's ex-cultural officer is subject to the court against the Free State  

Created: 01/16/2022, 07:30

Now defeated before the administrative court against the Free State of Bavaria: Egon Greipl.

© City of Regensburg

The former cultural officer of Regensburg has to pay damages of more than 730,000 euros to the Free State of Bavaria because of the conclusion of sham contracts.

Regensburg - It is a crushing defeat for Egon Greipl, formerly Bavaria's top monument conservator and former Regensburg cultural officer.

The Bavarian Administrative Court has rejected Greipl's appeal against a judgment by the Administrative Court of Regensburg* - it is final with immediate effect.

Greipl now has to pay 730,000 euros in damages to the Free State of Bavaria.

Regensburg's ex-culture officer Greipl has to pay damages: acted "grossly negligent".

According to the decision of the administrative court in 2019, Greipl violated his official duties as Bavarian curator general (1999-2013) "grossly negligent" and "culpable".

As head of the agency, he had signed around 90 “sham work contracts”, although legal counsel and government directors had warned him against doing just that.

There was a lack of personnel for a project by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, in which archaeological monuments were to be digitized throughout Bavaria.

Instead of hiring new people, the general conservator resorted to large numbers of work contracts – the self-employed were supposed to implement the project.

The crux of the matter: as early as 2010, labor courts had ruled that the work contract model was not applicable here.

These are employment contracts that are subject to social security contributions.

General conservator concluded sham contracts - despite urgent warnings

But Greipl was not deterred by this.

Despite successful lawsuits, he concluded another 90 or so comparable agreements.

In the end, the Free State had to pay the employee shares for pension, health, nursing care and unemployment insurance.

The country demanded this money back from its top official at the time – and was right.

Greipl is personally liable for the damage caused and actually has to pay.

The exact sum including interest is

.

Despite urgent warnings, Greipl "kept hitting the same wall again and again", according to a representative of the Free State.

The general conservator concluded “high-risk deals with his eyes wide open”.

He also failed to consult with the higher-level Ministry of Science.

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Lawyer: "Every contract is a risk."

Greipl's lawyer Markus Kuner, on the other hand, asks what the head of the authority should have done differently.

Without his approach, there would have been no digitization of the Bavarian archaeological monuments due to a lack of personnel.

In addition, every contract is always a risk.

Kuner literally: "Only if I don't get on a plane at all can I not crash".

According to Greipl's lawyer, his client has not committed a breach of duty - certainly not at fault.

Finally, he got advice from specialist lawyers on the design of the work contracts.

The administrative court did not accept that two years ago.

Neither does the VGH.

This order can not be contested.