Status: 03/19/2023 3:52 p.m
The former water jumper Jan Hempel, who suffered sexual assault from his trainer for years, is suing the German Swimming Association for damages and damages.
It is a precedent with unforeseeable consequences for the German Swimming Association (DSV) – and possibly for all of German sport. The former water jumper Jan Hempel is suing the DSV because of the years of sexual assault by his trainer for pain and suffering and damages – “in the seven-figure amount”, as his lawyer Thomas Summerer confirmed to the sports show.
The 51-year-old Hempel could pave the way for countless abused athletes in Germany to fight for compensation in court in the future. The defendants would not be the perpetrators – in Hempel’s case he died long ago – but the respective associations. “The organization of the German Swimming Association has completely failed in monitoring and controlling its coaches,” said Summerer in an interview with Sportschau. “There was only a cover-up. This organizational culpability means that an association is liable.”
Hempel states 1,200 attacks
Hempel had in the ARD documentary “Abused” stated last summer that he had been abused by his coach at the time, Werner Langer, for more than 14 years. The former water jumper, once one of the best in the world, does not want to comment at the moment. Summerer describes his client’s ordeal in the 1980s and 1990s as “the most blatant case of abuse that German sport has ever experienced”.
In the lawsuit, which is to be filed either at the district court of Kassel (seat of the DSV) or Dresden (responsible for Hempel’s hometown of Meissen), there will be a staggering number: 1,200 – Hempel blames his trainer Langer for so many sexual assaults. In this case, the demand for compensation and damages in the seven-figure range shouldn’t come as a surprise, says Summerer. He emphasizes: “We’ll do it, even if it takes ten years.”
DSV excludes financial compensation payments to individuals
The DSV reacted immediately on Sunday without mentioning the name Hempel once in its press release. The association ruled out financial compensation payments to injured individuals as a matter of principle. They are “not possible due to the current legal situation”. Non-profit sports associations are only allowed to spend funds “for things that correspond to their statutory purpose, i.e. benefit the common good”.
“This affects all of sport,” DSV Vice President Wolfgang Rupieper was quoted as saying. Institutions such as the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the German Olympic Sports Confederation and athletes in Germany are in exchange about “what the possibility of appropriate material compensation could look like”. He cited foundations or funds as an example. “We’re on the right track there, because it’s basically clear that reparations have to be made,” said Rupieper.
“On the right track” – on the other hand, this description does not fit the communication of the DSV with Hempel and Summerer at all. Summerer broke off the negotiations for an out-of-court settlement. He said he “found a cartel of silence”. Summerer considers DSV’s argument that it cannot make compensation payments to individuals for legal reasons to be false. “If the DSV is sentenced to make a payment, it will under no circumstances be able to refer to non-profit status,” he said on Sunday.
Parallels to the Catholic Church
The Munich sports lawyer has been fighting for Claudia Pechstein for damages for years, also against an umbrella organization, the International Skating Union (ISU). However, the five-time Olympic speed skating champion is not suing for sexualized violence, but in connection with her allegedly unjustified doping ban.
Summerer sees parallels in Hempel’s cases of abuse in the Catholic Church. German dioceses and bishoprics are currently having to deal with complaints about organizational fault for the first time. None of them are finished yet.
Case made public in Aachen
The DSV announced just a few days ago that an independent review committee started work on the cases of abuse uncovered in the ARD documentary and other cases of abuse at the beginning of March. On this occasion, Vice-President Wolfgang Rupieper, a retired judge, pointed out to the delegates during the general meeting in Kassel possible claims for damages by victims. However, he did not mention the name Hempel there.
Another case that could be investigated by the Commission is that of former Aachen water jumper Franz Marbaise. Well-known patterns can also be identified in this case: those affected are not believed, suspected perpetrators remain unmolested, crimes are covered up.
“Coach as a victim of my arbitrariness”
Marbaise made the allegation of a sexual assault by a coach associated with the traditional Aachen club SV Neptun public for the first time in the sports show, at the end of the 1960s. Jan Hempel, says Marbaise, persuaded him to do so with his courageous step. At that time he himself had mustered courage in vain. When it came to a discussion with the accused, a club representative and his parents, he was not believed. “I had the feeling that the coach was sitting in front of us as a victim of my arbitrariness,” said Marbaise.
It is piquant that the accused by Marbaise was a close associate of the late national coach Ursula “Ulla” Klinger. The DSV trainer was one of the officials responsible for ensuring that the abuse of Jan Hempel was not dealt with. The swimming pool in Aachen still bears the name “Ulla-Klinger-Halle”.
Work-up Commission takes on Marbaise case
Gisela Kiefer, Klinger’s sister and head of the diving department, has been trying to work through Marbaise’s abuse case in recent months. She spoke to two other possible victims, but not to the accused himself. According to ARD information, he is now very old and cannot be questioned.
The DSV announced on Sunday that it had known about the Marbaise case since August 2022. “Those affected were contacted immediately by both the association and the national association and were offered help,” it said. The case was transferred to the investigation committee.
Source: sportschau.de