Attorney at law Asma Hussain-Hämäläinen represents a client in a serious sexual harassment case

A client of mine was massively sexually harassed by her male colleagues over a long period of time. We sued for compensation for discrimination and pain and suffering due to bullying. The proceedings are pending at the Mannheim Labor Court – Heidelberg Chambers. During these proceedings, one of the colleagues to whom my client accused of this harassment claimed out of court to stop this allegation in written submissions to the court. Reason: The allegations are allegedly untrue and should be omitted. This is very old hat! Attempts are repeatedly made to intimidate parties in court proceedings by demanding that they refrain from making their allegations. There is a broad body of case law that protects the freedom of expression of those who express themselves.

Federal Court of Justice: “A defamation lawsuit must be dismissed as inadmissible if, from the point of view of the person making the statement, there can be a plausible reason to make the third party’s behavior the subject of his trial presentation (cf. BGH, NJW 2008, 996, 998).”

The so-called main proceedings should not be impaired by a restriction on the freedom of expression of those involved in the proceedings. Rather, the parties should be allowed to present anything in court proceedings that they consider necessary to protect their rights, even if this affects the honor of another. Whether the argument is true and relevant should only be examined in the main proceedings, which are subject to their own rules. I also had cases at the Stuttgart Labor Court and the Ravensburg Labor Court in which an attempt was made to have the plaintiffs refrain from making their claims in legal proceedings. In all cases the courts held the above-mentioned viewpoint. So: Don’t be intimidated too quickly by requests to submit cease-and-desist declarations and, if necessary, seek legal advice.