As editor-in-chief of “Bild,” Julian Reichelt is alleged to have had consensual sexual relations with employees and exploited his power as a supervisor. There is also drug use in the workplace. One of Reichelt’s ex-lovers has since sued parent company Axel Springer for damages. A spicy detail about ex-chancellor Sebastian Kurz also surfaced in the lawsuit.
Johanna Sophie Gerber, former “Bild” employee and ex-lover of Julian Reichelt, has filed her lawsuit in Los Angeles County, California, reports “Medieninsider” magazine. She has the right to sue in the US because she worked there while on duty and she is taking action against alleged violations of the law there. Gerber became known to a large audience in 2012 when she participated in the TV casting show “The Perfect Model” and made it to the final.
“hurt and harassed”
She now accuses Springer-Verlag and her associates of insulting him in “despicable, oppressive and malicious manner”. They wanted to “annoy, hurt and harass” her with “deliberate disregard for her rights” as an employee, citing “media insiders” from the lawsuit that was registered as a labor complaint.
It concerns alleged violations of the law on eleven points, including sexual harassment, discrimination and the accusation of having done nothing about it. In addition, the lawsuit contains several allegations of workers’ rights violations. Gerber demands compensation for this, a specific amount has not yet been mentioned. A first date for the trial is scheduled for mid-December.
The name of former ÖVP chancellor Sebastian Kurz also appeared in the indictment. Gerber reports a strange scene that allegedly took place at the Salzburg Festival in the summer of 2018. At the time, Reichelt told Gerber that he had exchanged views with Kurz. According to his own statements, Gerber also met the then chancellor himself at the festival and they had a drink there.
Mobile number given to Kurz
Reichelt is said to have explained to his ex-lover that the politician found her sympathetic, after which Reichelt passed on her private number to Kurz. When she asked why, he replied, “Just for fun,” the plaintiff quoted Reichelt as saying. Questions from “media insiders” about the incident went unanswered by both Julian Reichelt and Sebastian Kurz. Then there is a clear invasion of privacy.
Julian Reichelt and Sebastian Kurz apparently had a closer relationship when both were in power in their respective spheres: they were by first name, the “Bild” often brought benevolent headlines about the Austrian chancellor. Reichelt’s right-hand man, Paul Ronzheimer, published “Sebastian Kurz: Die Biography” in 2018, a tribute to the then newly crowned chancellor.
Source: Krone
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