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RBB crisis: employees want to clarify
The logo of the public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB): The search for an interim manager continues. photo
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa
According to a resolution, employees of the station now want to form a commission from their own ranks and help to clarify the abuses in management.
In the RBB crisis surrounding allegations of nepotism against the director Patricia Schlesinger, who was fired without notice, station employees want to use their own commission to clarify the matter.
In a resolution that is on the company’s intranet and was available to the German Press Agency on Wednesday, it was said that the employees would nominate personalities from the middle of the workforce and from outside in the next few days.
They should therefore independently clarify “how the grievances in management could be tolerated over such a long period of time, how, despite all noble corporate goals, a corporate culture was able to thrive in which even obvious misconduct and questionable management decisions could be accepted.” They should report to the workforce on an ongoing basis. The Commission should also draw up recommendations on how similar events can be prevented in the future.
Employees demand a say
In addition, employees of the ARD broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) demand a say in the resolution when naming an interim leader and a future director. This should also be recorded in the RBB state contract.
An interim director is currently being sought. Official names are not known. Administrative director Hagen Brandstätter is currently running the business, who has also been criticized for dealing with the crisis surrounding allegations of nepotism against Schlesinger. Because Brandstäter was on sick leave, the longest-serving director – that’s program director Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus – took over the business. The RBB editorial committee had called for the resignation of the entire management a few days ago.
Controversial consulting contracts
Schlesinger has been exposed to numerous allegations since the end of June, mainly through reports from the online medium “Business Insider”. She has been ARD chairwoman since the beginning of the year and RBB director since 2016. She resigned from both positions.
In addition to Schlesinger, the focus of the scandal is also the resigned RBB chairman of the board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf. Both rejected the allegations against them. Among other things, it is about controversial consulting contracts for an RBB construction project, about agreements between the two on salary and bonuses for Schlesinger. And it’s about orders for her husband, ex-“Spiegel” journalist Gerhard Spörl, at Messe Berlin – where Wolf was also chief supervisor until recently.
solidarity support
The control bodies of the other ARD houses have meanwhile offered support to the RBB supervisory bodies in their processing of the felt affair surrounding the dismissed director. The conference of the ARD committee chairmen (GVK) will “explore in direct contact with the RBB supervisory bodies what appropriate solidarity support and help can look like in practice,” said the GVK on Wednesday in Munich and Cologne. The initiative can be interpreted as a signal for the cohesion of the bodies in the ARD family.