Margrit Herbst

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Margrit Herbst (born July 5, 1940 in Flensburg ; née Hansen ) is a German veterinarian . She became known through the uncovering of the beginnings of the German BSE scandal in 1994, which led to her being removed from the service as a veterinarian for meat hygiene employed by the Segeberg district . In 2001 she was awarded the Whistleblower Prize of the Association of German Scientists .

history

In 1990, Herbst, who worked as a meat hygiene veterinarian in a slaughterhouse for the Segeberg district , discovered several suspected cases of BSE during a live examination of the cattle delivered. The decisions of her superiors prevented further examinations of most of the animals for slaughter that she had provisionally objected to, and the animals were released for slaughter against her will.

When the number of cases reported by Herbst grew to 21 by 1994, she eventually gave a television interview. In it she stated that she had suspected BSE in 21 cattle, but that they had been released and put on the market. In the television program of November 16, 1994, in which the interview was broadcast, the spokesman for the “Aktiongemeinschaft Fleisch” stated that Herbst had been given notice. In fact, Margrit Herbst was dismissed without notice in a letter dated December 16, 1994 because she had breached her duty of confidentiality with the interview .

A dismissal protection action brought by Herbst was unsuccessful in the first and second instance. In a retrial in 1997, the first chamber of the regional labor court chaired by the court president Ninon Colneric was unable to reassess the dismissal for procedural reasons. In the judgment, however, it was recommended to the district to consider reinstatement from Herbst, since the dismissal had wrongly assumed that BSE suspicion had been cleared up. Contrary to what was decided in the preliminary process, this should be given fundamental importance. In the preliminary proceedings, the courts were not concerned with the relationship between the group's interests in secrecy and those stipulated in Art. 5 Para. 3 Basic Law ( freedom of expression , freedom of science ) guaranteed fundamental rights of Ms. Herbst. However, he was not reinstated.

A lawsuit brought by the slaughterhouse operator against Herbst for damages and failure to claim that animals suspected of BSE had entered the market was dismissed. In 1997 the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig-Holstein ruled that the suspicion could arise that "the state authorities, in line with the meat-producing and processing companies, were very keen to prevent official BSE evidence if at all possible". The judgment also states: "If it was thwarted that the animals noticed by the expert defendant could be properly killed with medication or sent alive to the IPTH in Hanover, if, despite the ambiguous and therefore uncertain findings, no further examinations were carried out if the defendant was finally transferred from the stable to the assembly line against her will, thereby depriving her of the opportunity to establish further suspected BSE elements during the live clinical examination, and if the results of the investigation in the MELFF report were publicly played down, then the defendant, who as scientific expert had been asked for a statement, publicly express it in the manner that happened and in a thoroughly reserved form. "

In 2002, the state was ready to approve the awarding of the Federal Cross of Merit to Margrit Herbst, but on condition that she waived her claims against the state and the district. This proposal was passed on to Margrit Herbst by Bishop Bärbel Wartenberg-Potter in the so-called peace process. Margrit Herbst rejected this offer under protest.

In 2013, the former President of the State Labor Court, Ninon Colneric, who had dealt with the retrial application, wrote: “In my opinion, Dr. Margrit Herbst did not violate the law - correctly interpreted in the light of the German constitution. "And:" I could see that the judges who had heard their case were still very much influenced by an outdated doctrine of the duty of loyalty to the employer had confessed, but unfortunately it was not possible to overcome the procedural obstacles to a retrial. "

In 2014, the Segeberger district council discussed a motion by the left to "rehabilitate autumn and come to an amicable agreement with her [...] about compensation that compensates for her unemployment from dismissal until retirement age". In the main committee and two days later in the district council itself, the applicants were countered that Herbst had violated their confidentiality obligations and had not used a power of attorney from then District Administrator Georg Gorissen (* 1950) to initiate all possible measures independently. According to Margrit Herbst, this power of attorney was never available in writing (this power of attorney cannot be found in the district either because it was allegedly disposed of when Margrit Herbst was 67 years old), and it was also due to pressure from her superiors to the point of bullying and Threats of physical violence were intimidated.

In 2016, the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament discussed an application by the Pirate Party to honor Herbst's mission, to designate the BSE suspicion it had expressed as “not cleared up” and to pay compensation. The motion was rejected with the votes of all other political groups.

literature

  • Annett Heide: What is Margrit Herbst doing? In: Stern No. 48, November 21, 2019, page 122.
  • Olaf Harning: No chance for the brave lioness. BSE-Warnerin is denied recognition in the Schleswig-Holstein district of Segeberg . In: Neues Deutschland, November 10, 2014, p. 13.
  • Dieter Deisenroth: Whistleblowing in times of BSE. The case of the veterinarian Dr. Margrit Herbst . Arno Spitz Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-8305-0258-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Veterinarian warned of BSE and was discharged On: welt.de , December 31, 2000; accessed on July 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ Whistleblower Prize Winner. Association of German Scientists , accessed on March 20, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Gabriele Goettle: “Mad cow disease? Visiting a BSE expert ”. Die Tageszeitung , June 30, 2003, accessed on February 17, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Letter from the then chairman of the Chamber of the Schleswig-Holstein State Labor Court responsible for restitution proceedings. Wiki of the Pirate Party Germany , accessed on November 29, 2014 .
  5. ^ Segeberg district refuses to pay Margrit Herbst compensation. Hamburger Abendblatt , November 5, 2014, accessed on November 29, 2014 (via the meeting of the main committee in the Segeberg district council).
  6. ↑ BSE warner Margrit Herbst conceded a hefty defeat in the district council. Hamburger Abendblatt , November 7, 2014, accessed on November 29, 2014 (via the Segeberg District Assembly).
  7. ^ Pirates in the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament: LT-Drucksache 18/4925. November 30, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Autumn, Margrit
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German veterinarian
DATE OF BIRTH 5th July 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Flensburg