Media: ORF boss in Austria fired - legal dispute escalates
A female employee is suing the former head of the broadcaster for alleged sexual harassment. He in turn is fighting against his dismissal.
Following the dismissal of the head of the Austrian broadcaster ORF, the judiciary is dealing with a growing number of lawsuits and countersuits. The reason for the termination of Roland Weißmann was his behavior towards a female employee. The woman is now demanding compensation from the court for alleged sexual harassment, as her lawyer confirmed to the German Press Agency. Previously, the "Kronen Zeitung" had reported on this step. Weißmann denies the allegations.
The woman's lawsuits are directed against Weißmann and against the public-law ORF. Chat messages would clearly show that Weißmann had harassed the employee "over years," the lawyer said in a hearing at the Vienna Labor and Social Court. Weißmann is demanding 200,000 euros. However, this did not concern the harassment allegations themselves, but rather a lawsuit by the ex-head against the ORF: He is fighting in court against his dismissal, which was pronounced in April after the allegations became known.
In a further lawsuit, he demands compensation of 200,000 euros and pension contributions from the broadcaster. In addition to these employment law proceedings, the Vienna public prosecutor's office has been investigating the woman concerned and her lawyer for weeks on suspicion of extortion and illegal audio recording. Weißmann had filed a corresponding complaint. The matter was "much more complex" than it initially seemed, Weißmann's lawyer said.
ORF investigation: No harassment, but misconduct
An ORF investigation into Weißmann had concluded that there was ethical misconduct, but no sexual harassment. Austrian criminal law defines sexual harassment as unwanted sexual acts or intimate touching. Verbal attacks do not fall under this. The unsolicited sending of intimate pictures is only punishable in Austria from last autumn.
The events surrounding Weißmann have triggered a change in the management of the ORF. Several top managers have been suspended in the past few months due to alleged misconduct. Most recently, the head of the culture and info channel ORF III had to give up his seat. Clemens Pig has been designated as the new head of the ORF. The current head of the APA news agency will switch to the top floor of the large broadcasting company with 4,000 employees and a budget of around 1.1 billion euros at the beginning of 2027.
Translated by urgent.news. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
