Status: 07/25/2022 12:57 p.m
The victims of the Corona outbreak in Ischgl can now hope for compensation. A court in Vienna overturned an earlier judgment and found that state information was incorrect at the beginning of March 2020.
Success for the Corona victims of Ischgl: You can hope for compensation again. The Higher Regional Court (OLG) Vienna overturned a judgment of the first instance due to significant shortcomings. A German who had contracted the virus in the ski resort of Ischgl had sued the Austrian state for compensation for pain and suffering, treatment and care costs and lost earnings.
The Higher Regional Court has now determined that after the outbreak of the corona virus, the state had not provided “correct and complete” information about impending dangers. Because the media office was still spreading in the late afternoon of March 5, 2020 that vacationers from Iceland suffering from Corona had been infected on the plane on the return trip, according to initial findings.
In March 2020, Ischgl was considered a hotspot for the spread of the virus because of its après-ski scene. Thousands of tourists are said to have spread the virus in Europe due to the sometimes chaotic conditions when they left.
According to the Higher Regional Court, authorities did not provide sufficient information
It was already known that the first symptoms had already appeared in Ischgl in two infected people. According to the OLG, the authorities knowingly disseminated information that did not reflect the current status of the surveys.
This was “illegal and culpable information” for which the Republic of Austria is fundamentally liable. The Higher Regional Court referred the proceedings back to the first instance and also allowed an appeal to the Supreme Court, as fundamental legal issues were involved.
Victims so far all failed in the first instance
The plaintiffs reacted happily to the judgment of the Higher Regional Court: “The court of first instance must now examine the official liability claims in a well-founded manner. We therefore trust that the Republic of Austria will ultimately pay damages to the victims of Ischgl,” said Peter Kolba from the consumer protection association (VSV).
The SAAM represents the interests of more than 100 plaintiffs, all of whom had failed in the first instance. The Vienna Regional Court has so far dismissed all lawsuits without hearing a single witness.