Flue gas scandal – Bosch should submit files – Economy

The Stuttgart District Court asks for an overview of the sensitive correspondence with Volkswagen AG. The supplier, however, remains firm, and also the managing director Volkmar Denner refuses his statement.

The automotive supplier Bosch must disclose his confidential correspondence with the major customer Volkswagen, so that the scandal of the exhaust gases can be clarified. This was decided by the Stuttgart District Court on Friday. Until now, Bosch has refused to disclose the documents in another lawsuit against the Volkswagen umbrella holding Porsche SE. The Stuttgart-based company is relying on the right to refuse to testify and on a secret agreement with the Wolfsburg-based company

However, Judge Fabian Richter Reuschle does not accept these arguments. The secret interest of Volkswagen AG was not as deserving of protection as the interest of the public and the plaintiff in the investigation of the diesel scandal. Even the right to refuse to testify does not apply because Bosch does not undertake to disclose letters and letters and does not suffer any financial loss.

In his ruling, the judge on one hand increases the pressure on Bosch. On the other hand, it expressly relieves the company of the charge carried in the room that it would have contributed to the handling of the exhaust gas control system. According to him, the fault lies in the installation of the handling software exclusively at Volkswagen. "Criminal acts are in no way attributable to Bosch," said Reuschle. A warning letter from the Bosch legal department to VW does not change that. In this letter of 2 June 2008, Stuttgart warned its colleagues in Wolfsburg against the illegal programming of the software provided by Bosch. In addition, they demanded a liability exemption from Volkswagen. The judge pointed out that if we consider that a criminal offense of a customer is possible, it is not yet a help and a complicity.

The case (Case 22 O 206/16) only concerns Bosch that by the way; In fact, the shareholders are claiming damages from Porsche SE because the holding company advised the defeat schemes in the end too late. She violated her information obligations. In order to justify their claims, the plaintiffs want to see the letter of warning and other sensitive letters between Bosch and VW

Plaintiffs' lawyers took note of Friday's decision, satisfied: "We are pleased that the court is interested in the investigation "said Albert Adametz," and we hope that Robert Bosch GmbH will now take his duties seriously, stop covering criminal behavior and speed up the process. "Bosch him – even announced that he would review the written opinion. Most likely, the company will call. Especially as the CEO of Bosch, Volkmar Denner, denied his statement in the case and relied on the refusal of his certificate. Whether rightly or not, the court will decide in September.