RBB personal details: Oliver Jarasch works cross-media, Christoph Augenstein continues to complain

Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg does not always have a lucky hand when it comes to filling posts and tasks. The entire former top management – with the exception of program director Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus – is now suing the Berlin Labor Court against their dismissal. But there is also positive news from the public broadcaster. The personnel Oliver Jarasch seems to have gotten out of the line of fire. The husband of the top Greens politician Bettina Jarasch came under observation as to whether his duties in the RBB could collide with his wife’s political activities.

In the cross-media news center

The broadcaster reacted at the time by Oliver Jarasch no longer being responsible for content-related tasks within RBB from December 2020, but instead managing process and innovation management in the cross-media news center. Jarasch organized and coordinated work processes in cross-media cooperation.

“The structure agreed at the time has proven itself and has not led to any conflicts of interest,” said the RBB on Tuesday when asked by the Tagesspiegel. “In our opinion, the hot phase of the election campaign from November 2022 to February 2023 was a special situation, which is why Mr. Jarasch took on special tasks for a few weeks at his own request and was then on vacation from mid-December until after the election day.”

The situation before the labor court in Berlin is different, very different. After an initial and failed meeting with the legal director Susann Lange, the dismissed production and operations director Christoph Augenstein appeared in court on Monday. There was no positive result. Although his lawyer Kerstin Reiserer and the lawyer representing the public broadcaster did not rule out talks, the positions are far apart. The court now wants to examine the case further on November 8th, in the presence of Augenstein and interim director Katrin Vernau.

lawsuit against dismissal

The 59-year-old Augenstein is resisting his extraordinary termination at the beginning of February and demanding a total of more than 1.2 million euros from the broadcaster and Vernau. Judge Arne Boyer made it clear in an initial assessment that the RBB should have bad cards in a judgment on essential points. He mentioned various aspects for possible settlement negotiations.

From the judge’s point of view, this could include a reduction in a pension that Augenstein was promised at the end of the contract for the period up to the regular old-age pension. The background is that he switched to RBB from a permanent contract with Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), but got a contract there that was limited to five years. An agreement that according to Judge Boyer’s previous assessment is not to be considered “immoral”. As the plaintiffs explained at the appointment, it is about 750,000 euros, because Augenstein’s contract normally ends at the end of August. In addition, her client is demanding, among other things, around 455,000 euros in damages for permitted secondary activities that he lost and around 25,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering. The background to his termination was that directors received an allowance for the ARD chairmanship, which the broadcaster held from January 1, 2022 until the summer.

At the center of the RBB affair are the director Patricia Schlesinger, who was fired without notice, and the resigned head of the board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf. Both rejected the felt allegations. The Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating both Schlesinger’s husband and the administrative director and legal director. It is unclear how long these investigations will continue.

In the meantime, a conciliation hearing for the dismissal of administrative director Hagen Brandstätter is planned for this Friday at the labor court in Berlin. In June it should then continue with a chamber appointment in the case of the dismissed legal director. And ex-director Schlesinger also went to the Berlin district court after her dismissal without notice and demanded payment of her company pension. There is still no date for a hearing, as a court spokeswoman for the dpa said.

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