Works council salary: acquittal for VW manager lifted
Created: 2023-01-10Updated: 2023-01-10, 13:50
Justitia can be seen on a pane at the entrance to the Higher Regional Court.
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa/symbol picture
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has lifted the acquittals for four VW HR managers in connection with the amount of works council salaries.
A judgment by the Regional Court of Braunschweig does not meet legal requirements, the 6th Senate of the Federal Court of Justice ruled in Leipzig on Tuesday.
The case was referred back to another commercial criminal division of the district court for a new trial and decision.
Leipzig – The background to the proceedings is the remuneration that several senior works councils at Volkswagen received between 2011 and 2016.
The long-standing head of the VW works council, Bernd Osterloh, received up to 750,000 euros in years with high bonuses.
The court in Braunschweig acquitted the manager of the allegation of infidelity in 2021.
There was no evidence of intent on the part of the human resources managers.
The defendants erroneously assumed that their decisions on works council salaries did not violate any obligations.
However, the BGH also classified the district court's assessment of the evidence of the accused's intent as incomplete.
dpa