Local chief as perpetrator

Municipality does not have to pay after rape

The municipal office in Scharten - where sexual assaults were committed by the former mayor.

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

The former mayor of Scharten had sexually harassed and raped a female employee several times - and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Now there is the next verdict in the case: the Linz Higher Regional Court dismissed a claim for damages brought by the victim against the municipality.

The case made headlines for months: The former ÖVP politician - first a local councillor, then mayor of Scharten - had sexually harassed a municipal employee twice between 2014 and 2016, raped her three times and later slandered her. The former mayor, who is now behind bars, received a legally binding sentence for this: seven years in prison.

Compensation for victims rejected
The legal aftermath of the crime is not over yet. Last year, the victim sued the municipality for damages. "It breached its duty of care towards my client," argued lawyer Clemens Krabatsch in the "Krone" newspaper at the time. The claim amounted to 73,000 euros plus any future damages.

In an initial interim judgment by the regional court in Wels, the victim was also awarded claims for damages - but both the municipality and the former head of the village appealed against this.

The Linz Higher Regional Court has now upheld these appeals and dismissed the claims for damages. However, the decision is not yet legally binding and the victim's lawyer could now appeal to the Supreme Court.

Mayor acted out of "private" motives
In its decision, the Higher Regional Court argues that the municipality does not have to pay damages: it depends on whether the "specific act has a connection with the sovereign activity carried out in the specific case". The convicted ex-mayor had "acted exclusively out of 'private' motives", therefore the municipality was not liable.

And the municipality was also not liable for the acts that the convicted person had committed as a member of the municipal council "because individual members of the municipal council are neither involved in the performance of duties of care towards employees of the municipality nor are they superiors of the employees".