Hertha and Bobic in court
Regional court: Ordinary termination of Bobic was lawful
Hertha BSC terminated the 52-year-old at the beginning of 2023, first with regular notice and then with extraordinary notice. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
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.
In the legal dispute between ex-managing director Fredi Bobic and Hertha BSC, the Berlin regional court dismissed the 52-year-old’s lawsuit against his ordinary dismissal. The court did not decide whether the immediate termination issued by the second division soccer team was legal, as it said in a statement.
A date for the continuation of the oral hearing was scheduled for May 27th (10:00 a.m.). 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 procedure is 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.
Court sees arguments for both sides
The second division football team first gave the 52-year-old a regular and then extraordinary notice of termination at the beginning of 2023. The latter is based on two reasons: As the presiding judge Dr. Astrid Zilm said someone at the club had heard that Bobic had passed 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 this case, Hertha would have had to listen to Bobic about this unproven suspicion. That didn’t happen. The ex-manager’s lawyers argue that the invitation to the hearing was sent to Bobic at too short notice. The court saw arguments for both sides.
Bobic had also reacted angrily to a reporter’s question immediately before his termination after the derby defeat against Union Berlin. He apologized for the incident shortly afterwards. Hertha sees this, among other things, as a violation of the club’s code of conduct.