Dhe man – or woman – knows his stuff. On several pages you can read not only about dissatisfaction, resignation and a “climate of fear” among the employees of the Frankfurt adult education center. It also describes in detail how relationships are said to have played a role in filling positions. Supplemented by a list with names, the respective tasks at the VHS and the family and political connections, including the origin of the same Swedish city in the case of the director and a woman who is said to have gotten a management position despite a lack of qualifications.
For everyone who believes that something is not going well in the city administration, there has been an address since January 15th. In anticipation of the whistleblower protection law that came into force on July 2nd, Frankfurt had set up an “internal reporting point for whistleblowers” in the city’s anti-corruption department. Like companies, authorities and public institutions with more than 50 employees must give their employees and officials the opportunity to report grievances and legal violations. In its employee information, the city of Frankfurt points out that suppliers, for example, can also use this. What is required are “well-founded suspicions that go beyond mere assumptions”.
A reaction like a contradiction
The allegations against the VHS, the source of which is still anonymous, were reported internally to the administration at the beginning of the year. They had been checked and found to be unfounded, the head of the education department responsible for the adult education center, Sylvia Weber (SPD) and the head of the human resources department, Bastian Bergerhoff (The Greens), announced together in the fall. At this point, the allegations, which the whistleblower had also sent to the city council, had become public. According to Bergerhoff and Weber, there is no flaw in the job filling process.
However, the city did not stop at checking the processes. She filed a complaint against an unknown person on suspicion of violating private secrets and first informed the internal data protection officer and then the state’s data protection officer. The reaction sounds like a contradiction to the name of the whistleblower protection law. Personnel department head Bergerhoff still stands by the approach. “The letter lists 20 employees, many of whom are not of public interest.” It contains extensive personal data. He emphasizes one difference: “We did not react to the whistleblowing with the complaint, but rather to going public.”
But what if the person concerned believes that there is no other way to help themselves? And has no trust in the will to provide information, especially when it comes to accusations of political and personal influence? “That’s a dilemma,” admits the head of human resources and at the same time emphasizes that the anti-corruption department is independent and not bound by instructions. When publishing, however, there is the possibility of speaking abstractly about “a department head”. “In this case, I would have seen no reason to file a complaint, even if the name can of course be found out.”
“The trust is initially shaken”
The incident in Frankfurt is a precedent for local administrations, says compliance and forensics expert Kristof Wabl. “There are no empirical values.” Wabl, who is on the board of Transparency International Austria and deals with the issue for the management consultancy Stone-Turn in Frankfurt, initially sees the ad as a “prime example of negative and deterrent effects on whistleblowers”. In his experience, too much focus is often placed on the person and not on the report itself. “Exemplary companies do not have whistleblower management, but rather whistleblower management.” He sees the public sector as being called upon to deal with the protective nature in an exemplary manner.
Sylvia Schenk believes it is problematic when personal data is made public. As a former Frankfurt city councilor, the lawyer is not only familiar with the administration, but has also long been involved in whistleblowing cases, especially in sports, through her commitment to Transparency International Germany. The protection applies not only to the whistleblower, but also to the victims, who need to be protected from the public in cases of sexual violence, and to the accused, says the former judge. It is therefore better to first contact the internal reporting office or, if this is not an option, an external reporting office, a lawyer or ombudsman.
Without knowing all the details of the VHS case, Schenk does not want to rule out that the city’s report could have been correct. However, the approach is unfortunate and means that a lot of work is now necessary to establish the credibility of the whistleblower system. “The trust is initially shaken.”
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