Because of a private “official dinner” |
RBB plans to fire Patricia Schlesinger on Monday
Berlin – That’s it for Patricia Schlesinger (61)!
On Monday, RBB’s broadcasting board wants to fire the director with immediate effect – so far she is only on vacation. The reason: a private dinner with the chief of police at Schlesinger’s apartment, which she let the broadcaster pay for. BILD discovered it.
At 4 pm, the 30 broadcasting advisers meet on Monday on the 1st floor of the station in Masurenallee. Before that, they pass a lattice of RBB employees who are demonstrating in front of the entrance.
The Broadcasting Board meets at the RBB building in Masurenallee on Monday afternoon. Employees want to demonstrate in front of the station
Photo: photo alliance/dpa
In 2016, the Broadcasting Council appointed Schlesinger as its director – and re-elected her in 2021. Now the committee is ousting the boss!
“The RBB Broadcasting Board is removing Patricia Schlesinger from her role as director of the RBB with immediate effect,” says Friederike von Kirchbach (67), head of the board, in the draft resolution. “The dismissal is due to reasons in Ms. Schlesinger’s person that would justify an extraordinary termination of the service contract by RBB.”
Then von Kirchbach becomes more specific: The reason for being expelled is “settlement of entertainment costs for an invitation to dinner in Mrs.’s private apartment partly of a purely private nature”.
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BILD report brought the end
BILD presented the expense report last Sunday: the director demanded 1,154.87 euros from her broadcaster. After two bottles of champagne (“Veuve Clicquot”), the nine guests reportedly emptied twelve bottles of wine for the four-course meal. Among them, Police Chief Barbara Slowik and Charité Chief Heyo Kroemer with their spouses.
The following day, the Public Ministry launched corruption investigations. Slowik and Kroemer promptly explained that it was a “purely private” invitation. You wouldn’t know that RBB paid for the hospitality.
Without this explanation, both would also have come into the focus of investigators. The “off” for Schlesinger – if two-thirds of the Broadcasting Board votes in favor on Monday.
The RBB board must decide whether the artistic director will receive compensation after being expelled and will maintain her pension rights. Deputy Chief Dorett König wants to clear this up with the lawyers by Monday. Also whether the broadcaster can demand refunds from Schlesinger.
Individual members of the broadcasting board, journalists’ association and politicians have long demanded that there be no “golden handshake” for Schlesinger.
Posts at ARD’s film subsidiary also lost
Following her resignation from the leadership of ARD and RBB, there were also consequences for Patricia Schlesinger (61) on the supervisory board of ARD’s film subsidiary Degeto: Schlesinger was expelled.
Frankfurt am Main-based Degeto Film GmbH said Sunday, at the request of the German Press Agency: “The acting director of RBB Hagen Brandstätter has dismissed Ms. Schlesinger as a member of the supervisory board of Degeto.”
Brandstäter, who took over the business atop broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) after resigning a week ago, had previously told RBB “Medienmagazin”: He signed a letter on Friday, after which Schlesinger’s role could not longer be maintained by the board.
Schlesinger was previously the head of the supervisory board. Degeto is an ARD community facility responsible for series and feature films, for example.