{
  "id": 13881032,
  "title": "Employee Liability: How a Court Ruling Could Drive Senior Executives to Ruin",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/arbeitnehmerhaftung-wie-ein-gerichtsurteil-leitende-angestellte-in",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-12T05:16:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/steuern-recht/recht/urteil-haften-mitarbeiter-bei-groben-fehlern-bald-mit-dem-privaten-vermoegen/100261026.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "A German court, the Landesarbeitsgericht (LAG) Köln, has made a ruling that could have significant implications for employees. The case involved a finance manager who was deceived by cyber scammers into making 60 wire transfers totaling over 50 million euros. The court found the manager guilty of gross negligence and ordered him to pay the full amount of damages to the company, despite the company having a Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance policy. The ruling has been criticized by experts, who argue that it undermines the existing principle that employees are only liable for a portion of damages, typically up to three months' salary.",
  "summary": "A court ruling potentially toughens the liability risks for senior employees: if they cause damage, they risk being personally liable with their private assets.",
  "key_points": [
    "Cologne Landesgericht rules senior employees liable for unlimited damages.",
    "Manager transferred €50M to fake Asian subsidiary using impersonation.",
    "Overturns principle limiting liability to three months salary."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}