A small stage victory for the Deutsche Bank subsidiary DWS in the dispute over greenwashing allegations by its former sustainability boss Desiree Fixler: The Frankfurt Labor Court dismissed the complaint of the former employee against her dismissal a year ago on Monday, without first justifying the decision. Among other things, the negotiation dealt with formalities, i.e. the question of whether the manager was dismissed during the probationary period or not. Fixler’s lawyer stated that before she officially started work in September 2020, she had received around 170 emails, some of which were confidential, and had also attended management meetings. DWS’s attorney said that she was aware at the time that she did not yet have a valid employment contract; she had therefore also signed a non-disclosure agreement.
The core of the allegations – it was about the potential greenwashing of securities funds – was hardly touched on in the approximately 20-minute hearing. When Fixler was released in spring 2021 after just six months, DWS indicated that she had “lacked traction”. Fixler saw her reputation destroyed and turned to that in the summer Wall Street Journal: She was fired after she pointed out incorrect information about sustainability funds in the annual report and urged improvements, she told the newspaper. That would also be problematic from an employment law perspective. DWS rejected this. But barely four weeks later became knownthat, in addition to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Department of Justice DOJ is also investigating the allegations. The parent company Deutsche Bank is listed on the US stock exchange and DWS also sells funds there. The stock market price of DWS then collapsed by almost 15 percent. To date, the stock has not fully recovered. On Monday, the DWS price fell by more than four percent and was only listed at around EUR 35.60, which was probably due to the weak stock market.
Fixler told the SZ that she was disappointed with the verdict. She expected the court to deal more intensively with her allegations and give her the opportunity to answer questions or comment on them. She will decide at a later date whether she will appeal. A DWS spokesman said the company welcomed the decision.
For DWS, however, the processes are not yet over. The US authorities seem to be taking the allegations seriously, beyond labor law issues. You recently suggested that DWS should have reported Fixler’s criticism immediately. It doesn’t matter if she thinks they’re relevant or not.