Volkswagen, German Supreme Court reopens Dieselgate case
The resolution that in 2021 had approved the settlement with former CEO Martin Winterkorn, Audi's former boss Rupert Stadler and the insurance companies was annulled
The German Federal Court of Justice has reopened a central chapter of the long Dieselgate affair, annulling the resolution of the Volkswagen assembly that in 2021 had approved a settlement agreement with former CEO Martin Winterkorn (still on trial, suspended for health reasons) and with the former head of Audi, Rupert Stadler (he plea-bargained two years ago for a 21-month sentence, suspended).
The compromise, voted with more than 99% support, provided that Winterkorn would pay 11.2 million euros and Stadler 4.1 million, with the decisive backing of a 270 million D&O insurance cover. A solution presented at the time as fair and helpful in turning the page after the rigged emissions scandal, which cost the Wolfsburg group over 30 billion. The D&O policies serve to protect the personal assets of senior figures in the companies. The settlement agreement is handled directly with the company that issued the policy, according to the terms and limits of the insurance contract.
According to the Judges in Karlsruhe, however, the shareholders were not put in a position to deliberate with full knowledge. Volkswagen did not allow questions about the former managers' assets nor did it make it clear that the agreement freed other managers from further liability. A transparency deficit rendered the shareholders' meeting decision invalid.
The case thus returned to the Court of Appeal, for examination of the appeals by the shareholders' associations. The latter had immediately challenged the disproportion between the damages suffered and the contributions requested from the former top management: sums deemed derisory compared to the tens of billions in fines and compensation paid by the company.
Volkswagen, in a note, emphasised that the reasons for the agreement 'remain valid' and that the aim is to 'achieve the same result again'. In other words, the group will try to find a new legal framework to close the liability action front without reopening long-lasting litigation.
