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Lawsuit brought by a mayoral candidate in a royal coat against a newspaper publisher for payment of € 300,000 is rejected by the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court.
This case illustrates which idiosyncratic issues also have to be dealt with by higher courts.
A man from Baden-Württemberg ran for the office of mayor in no less than four communities. As a candidate for mayor, he was invited to panel discussions by a regional newspaper publisher. There he appeared dressed in a royal cloak. For his “appearances” he asked the newspaper publisher “artist fees” totaling € 300,000. He is more as an entertainer than as Mayoral candidate occurred. That is why he is entitled to a fee for his production. However, like the lower court, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court was unable to identify any legal basis for the mayoral candidate artist's request and dismissed the lawsuit as unfounded by judgment of June 24, 2020, Az. 4 U 561/19 - who would have thought that ?! A strange case, we think.
Termination without notice, also in tenancy law ?!
At least that is what the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (judgment of March 31, 2021, Az. 2 U 13/20). A suspicious termination without notice presupposes the suspicion of a particularly serious breach of duty on the part of the tenant - the tenant allegedly killed the landlord.
In the present case, a couple had rented commercial space to a motor vehicle dealer. During the current tenancy there were always disputes because the tenant should not have complied with his contractual obligations. Various terminations without notice have already been issued by the landlord. The regional court had dismissed the following eviction action. The couple appealed against this to the Higher Regional Court. During the appeal process, the landlord's husband was reported missing. The tenant was taken into custody on suspicion of manslaughter. In such a constellation, it is unreasonable for the landlord to wait for the criminal proceedings until the tenant is convicted. Due to the particular gravity of the suspicion allegation, a suspected termination of a commercial riveting relationship without notice using the principles stemming from labor law is possible, according to the appellate court.
In order to avoid misunderstandings, the Higher Regional Court pointed out that suspicion of other criminal offenses, such as damage to property or theft, was insufficient to justify a suspected termination without notice.
District sentenced to € 23,000 in damages for lack of daycare
The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main has sentenced a district in the second instance to pay a mother € 23,000 in damages because there was no reasonable daycare place for her child, as the Legal Tribune Online reports.
The mother had sued the district because the district did not offer her a reasonable childcare place for her one-year-old son from March to November 2018. As a result, the district violated its official duty to provide a childcare place. The Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main ruled that a district is obliged to provide a need-based number of childcare places. The complainant mother reported her need to the municipality immediately after the birth of her child, in any case in good time. The daycare place offered to her in Offenbach, however, was not reasonable due to the physical distance. The offer of a daycare place must correspond to the specific, individual needs of the child and his parents in terms of time and space. A reference to a free space somewhere is not sufficient.
In the case decided, the travel time from the place of residence to the care place was 30 minutes without taking into account the special traffic load and 56 minutes for one way to the mother's place of work. That is unreasonable. Therefore, the mother is entitled to compensation, in this case the loss of earnings of € 23,000 that she suffered due to the lack of childcare. A remarkable decision (OLG Frankfurt aM, judgment of May 28, 21, Az 13 U 436/19), as we think.
Hospital is fined € 1 million in compensation for pain and suffering
The regional court of Limburg an der Lahn has sentenced a hospital with a not yet legally binding judgment of June 28, 2021 for a serious mishandling of a child to compensation of € 1 million and compensation for all other present and future immaterial and material damages, such as Legal Tribune Online ( LTO) reports.
The amount of compensation for pain and suffering awarded is remarkable, as German courts are traditionally reluctant to pay compensation for pain and suffering.
Background: The then one-year-old child was treated in the hospital for an infection in 2011. Not just drug treatment - the child had eaten shortly before and choked on it Leftovers - but also the subsequent emergency treatment were faulty and even harmful in the manner carried out. Since then, the child has suffered from significant physical and psychological impairments and from epilepsy. A life even remotely normal is no longer possible due to the fault of the hospital staff.
Conviction for feeding pigeons
The District Court of Würzburg (Az .: Js 3852/20 has fined a self-proclaimed 61-year-old animal activist for the illegal feeding of pigeons to the amount of 2 × 50 €, as Legal Tribune Online (LTO) reports.
At the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, the 61-year-old had illegally fed pigeons in the city of Würzburg. Employees of the city of Würzburg became aware of this. The city issued a fine of € 100 due to the improper behavior. After the person concerned had lodged an objection, the matter went to the Würzburg district court, which was attended by a large number of animal rights activists as listeners.
The city of Würzburg explained that, like many other cities, it had banned the feeding of feral city pigeons in order to curb the pigeon population. If pigeons are not forced to look after their own food, they would have a lot of time and energy for the breeding business. The result is that they multiply very strongly. Due to the increase in the pigeon population, the animals suffered from a lack of space and this in turn causes massive stress among the pigeons.
The affected 61-year-old criticized the pigeon management of the city. In their opinion there are far too few dovecotes. Animal rights activists consider the ban on feeding to be incompatible with Art. 20 a of the Basic Law and the idea of animal welfare, as long as the pigeons are not cared for in adequate dwellings and their populations are not regulated. The person concerned also confirmed that she was not aware of any wrongdoing. From their point of view, there could be nothing wrong or forbidden to give an animal something to eat. They also do not see it to behave like a criminal and to act underground. The District Court of Würzburg did not want to follow this line of argument and sentenced the person concerned to two fines reduced to € 50 each.
The 61-year-old activist has announced that she will appeal the decision of the local court.