The director of the Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), Patricia Schlesinger, who has come under massive criticism and was recalled, is dismissed without notice.

This was announced by the acting chairwoman of the RBB board of directors, Dorette König, on Monday after a meeting of the board of directors in Berlin.

A week ago, Schlesinger was recalled by the Broadcasting Council - the second control body.

Michael Hanfeld

responsible editor for feuilleton online and "media".

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The service contract of February 25, 2021 with Patricia Schlesinger, who was recalled as artistic director by the Broadcasting Council on August 15, 2022, will be terminated without notice as a precaution, said Dorette König.

The termination takes place on the basis of important reasons within the meaning of Section 626 of the Civil Code.

Schlesinger's "claims to the payment of post-contractual pensions and survivor's benefits are thus revoked," according to the RBB board of directors.

No severance pay for Schlesinger

One sees these resolutions as necessary "in order to protect the rights of the RBB against Patricia Schlesinger in the best possible way, also in the interest of the contributors".

"I do not want to comment on the specific reasons for the extraordinary termination without notice at the present time, as these will now first be communicated to Ms. Schlesinger and her lawyer.

In our opinion, this is a requirement of a fair process,” said the Chair of the Board of Directors, König.

The Board of Directors also sees "the relationship of trust with Ms. Schlesinger as permanently destroyed by her behavior".

"I would like to make it very clear that Ms. Schlesinger is not eligible for a severance payment in connection with the early termination of her employment on the basis of the facts available," said König.

Schlesinger faces numerous allegations of nepotism.

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 denied the allegations made against them.

Among other things, it is about controversial consulting contracts for the RBB construction project of the "Digital Mdeinhaus", about agreements between the two on salary and bonuses for Schlesinger.

And for orders for the husband and former "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 on suspicion of infidelity and accepting advantages.

An external investigation into a law firm is also underway.

There are no results available yet.

The accused deny the allegations.

Resignation, dismissal, termination

Schlesinger was dismissed by the Broadcasting Council with immediate effect a week ago.

The board of directors had to formulate the legal wording of the termination.

Schlesinger resigned as chair of the ARD on August 4th and as director of the RBB on August 7th.

In doing so, however, she referred to her employment contract negotiated with the resigned Chairman of the Board of Directors Wolf-Dieter Wolf, which provides for a notice period of six months.

That would have meant she was entitled to severance pay.

This should now exclude the dismissal without notice.

Meanwhile, the directors of the ARD are indirectly pushing for it, and the editors' representatives at Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg are explicitly demanding that the current management of the RBB, in whom there is no longer any trust, resign.

The chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Brandenburg state parliament, Daniel Keller, now agreed.

He called on the administrative board and the broadcasting council of the RBB to immediately appoint a new acting director.

"Mr. Brandstätter's communication is not conducive to the transparent clarification process and the RBB as a whole," said Keller, referring to the acting RBB director Hagen Brandstätter on Twitter: "He himself has become a burden for the RBB."

The question is how the supervisory bodies intend to bring about a rapid change.

The Broadcasting Council meets next Thursday.

The chairwoman of the committee, Friederike von Kirchbach, resigned from her post last Saturday.

The Broadcasting Council is the electoral body of the public service broadcaster.

The four-year term of office of the entire Broadcasting Council with its thirty members is over at the end of this year.

The new RBB Broadcasting Council chairman Dieter Pienkny rejected the vote of no confidence announced by ARD chairman Tom Buhrow on behalf of all directors.

"That's not how I imagine solidarity," he told the Berlin "Tagesspiegel".

At a time when all colleagues at RBB were clearing away the rubble and looking for solutions, something like that was not constructive.

"I expect the ARD chairman to take a clearer stance on this story." It is understandable that Buhrow is going too slowly.

"It's too slow for us too.

But we are clearly trying to clarify, with lawyers and our own research team.

I don't know what kind of task force Tom Buhrow is still demanding." The ARD statement says that one does not believe

"that the executive management of the station succeeds in processing the various incidents quickly enough".

The management of the RBB has not yet commented on the withdrawal of confidence.

As the RBB reports, the director Brandtäter is on sick leave for several weeks.