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After the Postbus case, bonuses from management members were canceled. These fought back. Now there is a first verdict. It supports Swiss Post’s bold course.
The Postbus scandal became public five years ago. Apparently those responsible had cheated on the bookkeeping for years and thus unfairly made millions in profits; at the expense of the taxpayer.
Legend:
A Postbus in a hairpin bend on the Furka.
KEYSTONE/Urs Flueeler
The Post Group took action: it released the entire Postbus management and blocked bonuses that had not yet been paid out. Several ex-cadres didn’t want to let it sit and sued for their bonuses.
Post «relieved»
One of the plaintiffs was on the management board of Postbus. He wasn’t the boss, nor was he in charge of finances. But Swiss Post released him after the Postbus affair – and canceled bonuses of around 187,000 francs that had not yet been paid to him. Wrongly so, the ex-management man thought, and went to court. Now the civil department of the Bern-Mittelland regional court has dismissed his complaint in its entirety.
The judgment from last week is available to Radio SRF: It gives the ex-management member joint responsibility: “The court considers the evidence that the plaintiff knew or should have known about the illegal booking practice to be provided.” The court therefore comes to the conclusion that the post office can cancel the man’s bonus.
The court considers the evidence that the plaintiff knew or should have known about the unlawful accounting practice to have been provided.
It may not be the final verdict. The Post confirms that other members of the former management have taken legal action. Post spokeswoman Denise Birchler responded to the first verdict with corresponding relief: “Post was happy about it. It confirms that it was correct that we froze or even removed the bonuses of these former executives.
Legally high hurdles
An expert in labor law is rather surprised. Thomas Geiser, professor emeritus for private and commercial law, says: “The Post was obviously able to prove in court that a member of the management board who is not directly responsible for finances is nevertheless responsible for financial management and financial accounting.”
As a rule, in similar cases, courts would tend to decide in favor of the employees, according to Geiser: “Recent case law shows me a high hurdle. You will see whether the court has adhered to this amount when the reasoning is available. »
There is no written reason for the judgment yet. It is also unclear whether the ex-Postauto executive will continue the verdict; his lawyer refused to provide any information on request. According to information from Radio SRF, the lawsuits of several other ex-Postbus managers – for the payment of their bonuses – are currently on hold. Those involved want to wait for the outcome of the administrative penal proceedings by the Federal Office of Police (fedpol).
Does the Post demand compensation?
Post spokeswoman Birchler does not comment on the individual complaints of the former cadres. But it makes it clear that the group reserves the right to take further steps in addition to the bonus cancellation: “There are issues that are still open, such as questions about compensation. We want to finally clarify this.” Therefore, one hopes to get information from the criminal proceedings “as soon as possible”.
For several years, fedpol has been investigating at least six former Swiss Post and Postbus managers. The Bern regional court has now forestalled this criminal investigation with this first bonus decision.