After Patricia Schlesinger was dismissed as RBB director, she is now being dismissed without notice. She does not receive a severance payment, and she also loses entitlements to a pension. As the station’s board of directors also announced, an interim director will be appointed.
The director of the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Patricia Schlesinger, who has come under massive criticism and was recalled, is dismissed without notice. This decision was announced by the incumbent chair of the board of directors of the public broadcaster ARD, Dorette König, after a council meeting in Berlin. With the termination, Schlesinger’s claims to the payment of old-age and survivor’s pensions would also be revoked. There should also be no severance pay.
In addition, the council spoke out in favor of appointing an interim director. According to RBB information, administrative director Hagen Brandstätter, who is currently on sick leave, is currently running the business, who is also being criticized for dealing with the crisis surrounding allegations of nepotism against Schlesinger.
A week ago, Schlesinger was recalled by the Broadcasting Council – the second control body. Since the end of June, the 61-year-old has been exposed to numerous allegations of treason and nepotism, 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.
At the center of the scandal is the recalled director and the resigned head of the RBB board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf. Both rejected the allegations. 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 about orders for the husband and ex-“Spiegel” journalist Gerhard Spörl at the Berlin Exhibition Center – where Wolf was also chief supervisor until recently.
The General Prosecutor’s Office in Berlin is investigating all three for breach of trust and acceptance of benefits. It is the presumption of innocence. An external investigation into a law firm is also underway. There are no results available yet.