Euro Patent office staff call again for King Battistelli regicide

The central staff committee at the European Patent Office (EPO) has asked again for the organization's Administrative Council to take action against its president Benoit Battistelli, citing the dismissal of the secretary of its staff union as the final straw. "We are skeptical about the real motives behind the dismissal of yet …

[imanidiot]

He won't leave voluntarily.

Not until he gets offered another cushy function in some other institution he can terrorise for a shockingly large paycheck.

--> Because Battistelli clearly feels he is:

[frank ly]

Prunier: "the easiest solution .... is for Mr Battistelli to lift the confidentiality he imposes on me ......."

If he's been fired, how can his ex-boss impose confidentiality on him? If he signed a legally binding confidentiality agreement then a) why did he sign it; b) if his ex-boss is lying then surely the agreement is void.

[Bakker]

Frank ly,

Mr Prunier will be appealing so has to follow the rules. Additionally, the EPO will be paying a pension which can still be reduced based on disciplinary matters such as revealing details of his own case.

[Anonymous Coward]

If he's been fired, how can his ex-boss impose confidentiality on him? If he signed a legally binding confidentiality agreement then a) why did he sign it; b) if his ex-boss is lying then surely the agreement is void.

Confidentiality agreements are quite normal, and are usually signed when joining, not when there's a dispute looming :). They also last past employment for normally fairly obvious reasons, but I agree there should be a conditional inserted that somehow makes it possible to fight off this sort of nonsense.

Not quite sure how you'd phrase it, but I think this affair contains quite a few lessons in employment law. No doubt, some board level idiots are watching this in awe..

[Bakker]

AC,

The requirement of silence is not part of a contract of employment. It arises from disciplinary rules introduced by the EPO somewhat recently. It is designed to prevent alleged victims being identified and eventually subsequently mobbed or harassed. The accused is very limited in what he or she can reveal - in practise nothing. Thus fellow staff members will no nothing of any ongoing disciplinary procedures.

[Mark 85]

I am surprised that things have gone this far. I would hope/think that the Administrative Council should have starting doing damage control sooner. Probably by firing the King. With this much in disarray and so many voices expressing "no confidence" the credibility of the EPO is in question.

Edit/Afterthought: After re-reading what I just wrote, I guess I should also believe that businesses have ethics and that there are honest politicians, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and sky fairies.

[Potemkine]

black, white and shades of gray

Every story has several sides but we keep having the same one described again and again in Mr. McCarthy's articles, which are heavily biased towards one direction, justly or not I can't say

It would be interesting to get another point of view to be able to weight things, like this one: "EPO President Benoît Battistelli responds to IAM criticisms of recent union official dismissal".