02.07.22
Gemini version available ♊︎EPO Pays Out Millions of Euros in Compensation — to Thousands of Workers Who Deserve a Lot More for Moral Damage — for Battistelli’s Illegal Acts (But Battistelli Himself Has Not Been Punished at All, Nor Have His Enablers)
Summary: The staff union of the EPO (SUEPO) is pushing ahead for justice after more than a decade of chronic, ongoing, systematic injustice, which saw the rule of law abolished, patent quality as “collateral damage”, and Europe’s reputation/leadership in tatters
SUEPO Central is circulating this letter today [PDF]. Of course we’ve managed to get a copy (the EPO is getting more leaky as corruption grows there and people feel desperate to speak out). “SUEPO expresses again its solidarity to all staff in the HR Department,” it says, “who strived to conclude all payments by the end of the year 2021 to repair the damages caused by their upper management.”
“Over the years we heard from aggrieved and unhappy workers from the HR Department.”The short story is, payments were made to 4,523 workers, in effect undoing penalties but not paying anything in compensation for moral harm, amongst other aspects. How many more industrial actions would have been possible if it weren’t for the illegal “strike regulations” persisting illegally for 8 years?
Over the years we heard from aggrieved and unhappy workers from the HR Department. Some left, some stayed while hating the grossly under-qualified boss, and we still have some stories we can share one day. People hate her guts more than she can possibly imagine, but in order to pay the mortgage people need to maintain a shallow, superficial, appearance of an amicable relationship.
“Some of the people responsible are still clinging onto top positions at the Office!”Of importance and of note in this case: nobody was punished for these illegal acts! Not the people who voted for something illegal. Not the management that proposed these illegal regulations. Some of the people responsible are still clinging onto top positions at the Office!
Welcome to the EPO, where immunity means that crimes pay off and doing illegal things is the “smart” thing to do. Like trying to kick off the UPC, even though it is patently and manifestly illegal, as per the simple treaties. This will be a permanent injury not just to the image of the EPO but also the EU’s (UPC is an EU system). What have we sunken to and how can these crises be rectified?
Just like cops who never pay for their crimes (the police departments pay compensation to victims — however rarely — at taxpayers’ expense), Battistelli paid nothing and instead got rewarded with huge compensations upon his departure in 2018. To make matters worse, he also wasted an unbelievable sum of money trying to “get even” (ego-tripping) with judges by illegally sending them to Haar. Those spendings did not come out of his own pocket. █
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