Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Staff Suicides Estimated to Have Grown Tenfold Under Current Regime -- Claim

But Battistelli continues to deny there is a problem and won't fall on his sword (no joke/entertainment but an idiom)

Ruined church



Summary: Instead of EPO staff driving away the corrupt management, it's the management crushing staff unions and driving away the staff (causing brain drain), or driving some to suicide

THE SELF-DEFENCE we often hear from the EPO, including from Battistelli in person, is that the number of suicides at the EPO is not statistically unusual. Some EPO apologists say the same thing, often without checking and actually comparing statistics.



Dutch newspapers have written about the suicides in recent days (they deem it worthy of a mention, not opportunism or a distortion of facts) and over at IP Kat, having read the automated translations of these articles, "Merpel urges the Administrative Council (AC) to act, and to act quickly. Discussions about whether the Office has immunity from employment law or is exempt from the prevailing standards of employee care throughout the EU are not only immaterial, they are repugnant in the present circumstances. Each AC delegate should take individual responsibility to ensure that the next time such a personal tragedy occurs, nobody thinks it newsworthy and nobody links it to the EPO as a place of employment."

A lot of new information (however unverified) can be found in the comments. One commenter wrote: "I am not sure that SUEPO did the right thing, making the matter public, but the reply of the President is shameful as well. Even if the death cannot be linked directly linked with the working conditions, claiming that everything is honky dory is a blatant lie. That he respects the dignity of staff is just laughable. "

SUEPO did not make the matter public, it was first reported in Techrights last month and all along we tried hard to protect the identity of the person in question (the first person to mention the name in correspondence was the EPO's Ciaran McGinley, PD Patent Administration, and later Battistelli). Even in private correspondence with Battistelli SUEPO consistently abstained from name-dropping, even after Battistelli had done that.

"The suicides don't surprise us at all given the management's bullying, euphemistically called "interrogation" (maybe we should dub it Battistelligence)."IP Kat has many comments that are interesting because some of them add new information and the posters often come from within the EPO (both the management and those below the management). One person shares this story: "I know the widow of one of the EPO suicided colleague. She really wanted an independent investigation. Then the EPO informed her that such request of investigation is inappropriate. Such behavior will postpone the payment of all the allowances. (+/- 4 years of procedure for the internal appeal, then +/- 4 additional years for the appeal at the ILOAT).

"The direct consequence: the widow and her children would be left without money and without social security for 8 years.

"This wife was desperate by the dead of her husband. She couldn€´t face additional money problems and she had to cooperate with the EPO."

Here is some unverified bunch of historical statistics about suicides at the EPO: "I believe that what is striking here is the INCREASE of the suicide rate at the EPO, which were 3 (three in total !) in the more than 30 years between 1977 and 2009.

"This means that the suicide rate changed in 2010 from 1 every 10 years to 1 every year."

The suicides don't surprise us at all given the management's bullying, euphemistically called "interrogation" (maybe we should dub it Battistelligence). It's militarised. Maybe one day we will expand on what exactly happens behind closed doors and who is doing that.

"Nothing is done to lower the work pressure," one person writes, "on the contrary + nothing is done to stop the brutal management methods on the contrary = further suicides among the weakest staff are likely to soon occur at the European Patent Office."

It would not shock us at this stage. The EPO is now bullying even staff representatives. How dumb a move.

One person correctly pointed out: "The point is surely that such tragedies demand a proper investigation. Precisely because of its claim to blanket immunity, the EPO is in loco the state for many aspects of its employees' lives. In the outside world a suicide IS investigated by a coroner's court in the UK (I am not sure about what happens in continental law), and such investigations sometimes lead to recommendations for prevention. On a large scale the epidemiology of suicide is studied by governments as a basis for preventive policies. The exclusion of suicides by EPO employees from any such investigation is completely unacceptable."

SUEPO has meanwhile shared this Dutch interview from NPO Radio 1, titled "Verziekte arbeidsomstandigheden bij Octrooibureau in Rijswijk" (it's all in Dutch).

To quote SUEPO, "Ms Liesbeth Zegveld, SUEPO lawyer and Mr John Kerstens, Member of the Dutch House of Parliament (Tweede Kamer PvdA) were interviewed on 10 September 2015 on the Dutch channel Radio 1 over the "unhealthy working environment" in the European Patent Office."

We would really appreciate translations from Dutch to English. These would broaden the reach of this scandal and allow MEPs whose Dutch is zilch to become better informed.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 08/12/2023: Cyber Resilience Act in EU and Denmark Embracing 'Blasphemy Law'
Links for the day
Linus Torvalds Cannot Easily 'Offend' Companies Anymore, But Weeks Ago He Explained Why (Linux Support and Hardware Documentation Has Significantly Improved)
new clip
Links 08/12/2023: Tidal and Simplilearn Layoffs
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, December 07, 2023
IRC logs for Thursday, December 07, 2023
[Video] The Media Facilitates Microsoft's Abuse, Bribes, and Growing Threats to National Security
The failure of the media to properly and independently explain what's happening will continue to doom the media
[Video] The Next Ten Years of Techrights in a World With Changing Threats and Technological Landscapes (or Trends That Are Buzzwords/Cargo Cults)
The video of today talks about the site's (and capsule's plan) for the future
Wikipedia is Vandalism, Brought to You by Microsoft and Bill Gates
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Lennart Poettering and Fellow Microsofters Turn GNU/Linux Into Windows, Expect Poor Reliability With systemd-bsod
turning Linux into Microsoft Windows
The Effort to Silence (Squash) GNU/Linux Advocates and Press Coverage
If nobody even mentions it anymore, does it still exist?
Links 07/12/2023: Climate Events Occupied by Their Enemy, Workers Going on Strike
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, December 06, 2023
IRC logs for Wednesday, December 06, 2023
A Googlebombing Campaign Targeting "Gemini" Takes on E-mail, Too
Google can do Googlebombing too (the term is even named after it)
[Video] Microsoft Without a So-called 'Common Carrier' (Windows Monoculture)
Windows Has Fallen
[Video] To Combat Efforts to Cancel or Kill the Career (and Reputation) of the People Who Made GNU/Linux We Must Rally the Community
nobody speaks better for projects and for licences than their own founders
Rumour: Major Finance Layoffs at Microsoft Next Week
If the rumour is true, we'll be hearing barely anything from the mainstream media next week
Links 07/12/2023: More EPO Patents Squashed, More Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine "Glitches" Found
Links for the day
Still Not 'Canceled'
Ted Ts'o, Jan Kara, Linus Torvalds last month
Google is Googlebombing the Term "Gemini"
Could Google not pick a name that's already "taken"?
Links 06/12/2023: Bitcoin Rebound, China Downgraded by American Firm, Yahoo! Layoffs Again
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Shooting the Messenger Using Bribes and Secrecy Bonds
We seem to live in a world where accountability for the rich and well-connected barely exists anymore
The Myth of an Aging (or Dying) GNU/Linux Leadership
Self-fulfilling prophecies as a tactic?
Links 06/12/2023: Many More December Layoffs
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 05, 2023
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 05, 2023
PipeWire 1.0: Linux audio comes of age
Once upon a time, serious audio users like musicians and audio engineers had real trouble with Linux
This is How 'Linux' Foundation Presents Linux to the World
Right now it even picks Windows over Linux in some cases