Bonum Certa Men Certa

Weeks Later, British Media Writes About British EPO Worker That Committed Suicide and the Administrative Council's 'Coverup'

Related: EPO's Elodie Bergot Calls Staff Suicide Just 'Passing Away', Pretends to Care

EPO on suicide



Summary: The contempt/disregard for human life and for the health of employees at the European Patent Office extends to the Administrative Council (European Patent Organisation)

THE news about changes at the EPO may have begun circulating in German media and even British media. Earlier today The Register covered some of the latest events, including last week's meeting, Battistelli's expected departure, the suicide of a British examiner in Munich, and various other things. Among the key points (with highlight on what's new to us):



Perhaps more significantly, the Administrative Council named its new chairman after its current chair, Jesper Kongstad, unexpectedly resigned from his position of chairman of the Danish patent office.

Kongstad was widely credited with supporting and protecting Battistelli at the council, repeatedly blocking efforts to have him kicked out of the job early. In his place, from October, will be German Christoph Ernst, who has been a critic of several of Battistelli's more controversial reforms.

The selection of Ernst has been widely seen as a public rebuke of Battistelli for his crusade against anyone opposing his plans – a situation that has led to a complete breakdown in communication between staff and management.

At its recent meeting in Munich, the Administrative Council was asked by the EPO staff union to launch an independent investigation into the circumstances behind the recent suicide of an examiner: the sixth such death in just five years. They declined to do so.

[...]

Battistelli famously storms out of meetings if he doesn't like what he hears.


IAM's editor believes that Battistelli's friend Antonio Campinos may take over. It seems plausible.

"We referred to Nouvel as a "death trap" last night because of the fire risk -- a subject for which we can hopefully leak hard evidence one day."Regarding some of Battistelli's latest proposals, one person said: "If these sort of changes are passed it shows that it isn't just the top that is rotten. What a toxic place to have to work at.."

"So the penthouse suite," added another person. "Is it included as a benefit?"

The EPO does not even want anyone to speak about the penthouse's very existence. As we pointed out before, the money for it was apparently taken from the budget of TBI Holding, which had been tasked with construction of Nouvel, a building which we wrote about last night. TBI Holding wanted to sue the EPO. But guess what... it cannot. Immunity!

Thanks to the notorious immunity, Dutch authorities are unlikely to investigate such irregularities (or potential felonies). We referred to Nouvel as a "death trap" last night because of the fire risk -- a subject for which we can hopefully leak hard evidence one day.

"It's one of the many things that make the EPO an undesirable employer that tends to cover things up rather than make up."Regarding the accident this week, we later received additional information about it from Dutch people. One person said, "please be careful when commenting on the accident."

Another person, a native Dutch speaker, said that it was not as serious as the headlines (or automated translation of these) may suggest. "A worker fell from the building's highest floor three meters to the floor below," one person said. "He was injured and needed to be brought to a hospital. But it was an accident and has nothing to do with Nouvel or Battistelli. Such a thing can happen everywhere. Let's hope that the guy is not severely injured and will get better soon. What is strange is that the labour inspection can investigate what happened when someone gets injured but is not allowed to enter EPO premises when someone comes to death by suicide."

It's one of the many things that make the EPO an undesirable employer that tends to cover things up rather than make up. Introspection is simply not an option.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
 
Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
A lot of people fall into the trap of catering only for particular groups
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH 2025 and Lagrange 1.19 Released
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago