As of: February 19, 2024, 4:34 p.m
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Fredi Bobic, Sports Director at Hertha BSC, during an interview before the game.
© Tom Weller/dpa/archive image
There is a first decision in the legal dispute between Hertha BSC and Fredi Bobic.
The 52-year-old's lawsuit against his ordinary dismissal is dismissed.
But it continues.
Berlin - There is a partial verdict, but important questions in the legal dispute between Hertha BSC and ex-managing director Fredi Bobic remain open.
On Monday, the Berlin regional court rejected the 52-year-old's lawsuit against his regular dismissal.
The court did not initially decide whether the immediate termination issued by the second division soccer team was legal, as it said in a statement.
A date has been set for May 27th (10:00 a.m.) to continue the oral hearing.
Evidence may then be taken.
It is also possible that Bobic will be called as a witness.
The partial judgment is not yet legally binding.
An appeal can be lodged against this.
The crux of the proceedings remains the legality of the extraordinary termination.
After ordinary termination, Bobic is entitled to a contractually agreed severance payment, but not in the case of lawful extraordinary termination.
For the financially struggling Hertha, a lot of money is at stake.
It is now at least clear that the service contract between the parties was terminated on April 30, 2023.
The second division soccer team bases the extraordinary termination from February 2023 on the 52-year-old's behavior in a television interview and a suspicious termination.
As the presiding judge Dr.
Astrid Zilm said someone at Hertha had heard that Bobic had given secret documents to Mr. Hellmann.
No further information was provided.
In this case, the 52-year-old would have violated a confidentiality clause.
This is how Hertha justified the announcement of a dismissal on suspicion.
In the event of such a termination, Hertha would have had to listen to Bobic about this unproven suspicion and provide sufficient information about the allegations beforehand.
The hearing did not take place.
The ex-manager's lawyers argue that the invitation was sent to Bobic at too short notice.
The court saw arguments for both sides.
This could also be interpreted as a waiver of a hearing.
Bobic had also reacted angrily to a reporter's question immediately before his termination after the derby defeat against Union Berlin.
“If you ask again, you’ll get slapped,” the 52-year-old said to an RBB reporter as he walked away.
He apologized for the incident shortly afterwards.
Here the court showed understanding for the possible emotionality after such a game.
“We are not at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra or at an interview at a law firm,” she said.
It is questionable whether this should really be interpreted as a serious threat.
However, Hertha lawyer Johan-Michel Menke pointed out that Bobic had signed a code of conduct with Hertha.
This obliges all employees to treat other people internally and publicly with “dignity and respect” and to “respect the independence of journalists and media”.
However, Bobic's lawyers argued that this code of conduct was submitted to the court too late.
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An out-of-court settlement is also still possible.
However, both sides are obviously far apart financially.
The Bobic side rejected an initial offer from Hertha.
This is not the only case in the district court.
According to a court spokeswoman, the second document process initiated by Bobic is about the possible obtaining of an enforcement order against Hertha.
All appointments there have so far been cancelled, most recently due to a request for bias from Hertha.
If Bobic receives this enforcement order, Hertha would have to pay out the manager's salary, which has been frozen for around a year.
However, if the chamber comes to the conclusion in follow-up proceedings that the terminations were legal, the 52-year-old would have to pay back the money.
dpa