The forced closures during the pandemic came as a shock to many industries. A family of restaurateurs from Brandenburg wants to get the state to replace all losses in court.
The lockdowns in the corona pandemic have hit many industries hard – does the state have to compensate those affected for their loss of income? The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe announced its first judgment on Thursday (10:00 a.m.).
The top civil judges attach great importance to the pilot proceedings from Brandenburg. Many similar cases are pending in the courts nationwide.
In order to stop the spread of the new virus, the federal and state governments took drastic measures to shut down public life in the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020. The catering trade also had to close for weeks, food and drinks could only be sold to take away. Hotels were no longer allowed to accept tourists.
This also affected Schloss Diedersdorf, a family-run business with a hotel, several restaurants and a large beer garden south of Berlin. Owner Thomas Worm and his daughter Salina estimate their losses at 5438 euros a day – due to lost profits and running costs. The family received 60,000 euros in emergency aid. But this sum covers just eleven days, as her lawyer calculated in the BGH hearing of the case on March 3rd.
The Worms want the state of Brandenburg to pay them compensation. The process is initially about a claim of around 27,000 euros. The exact amount of damage would have to be determined later if the family was right.
The Infection Protection Act provides for financial compensation in certain cases – but only for someone who has lost earnings “as an excretor, suspect of infection, suspect of illness or as other carrier of pathogens”.
The Worms, who according to their own statements have not had a corona case in their company, find this unfair. “We acted in accordance with the law and invested a lot of money in hygiene measures,” says Salina Worm (21), who recently became managing director. “We were closed anyway, and there is no compensation.”
The lawsuit was unsuccessful at the Potsdam district court and at the higher regional court (OLG) Brandenburg. The Corona pandemic is “a major event that hit and is affecting the whole of society and large parts of the economy,” the Higher Regional Court ruled on June 1, 2021. The “socially acceptable distribution of the unequal burdens caused by the pandemic” is therefore “primarily a challenge for the welfare state ». There is no claim for state liability.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
