Upper Regional Court Linz confirms dismissal of Brucknerhaus managing director

The LIVA, the owner and operator of the Brucknerhaus, had dismissed Kerschbaum as managing director of the concert hall. Kerschbaum took the case to the Regional Court, which ruled in favor of the LIVA in the first instance. The OLG Linz has now confirmed this ruling and rejected the manager's appeal.

Possible next steps

The labor law dispute over the leadership of the Brucknerhaus has thus been decided in the second instance as well. Kerschbaum can still file an appeal (Revision) against the OLG's decision with the Supreme Court of Justice (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH). No further legal steps were initially known.

The OLG did not provide substantive details on the reasoning for the breach of duty and the extent of the breach of trust in its statement released on Friday. The background of the case dates back to the previous year, when the LIVA released the managing director from duty following internal disputes and ultimately terminated his contract.

The LIVA had emphasized in the proceedings that the separation from Kerschbaum had occurred for good cause. Following his release from duty, the management of the house was reorganized on an interim basis so that the Brucknerhaus's performance operations could continue.

Significance for the LIVA

With the OLG's decision, the LIVA's position — that it considered its former managing director no longer viable — has also been confirmed by the court. The ruling makes clear that the grounds cited by the LIVA for a summary dismissal are, in the second instance's view, substantiated.

The Brucknerhaus is one of Austria's most important concert halls and is supported by the City of Linz and the LIVA. The controversy over the leadership of the house had received media attention beyond regional cultural reporting.

Kerschbaum had been active in the Upper Austrian cultural scene for years before taking over the management of the Brucknerhaus. With the OLG's ruling, he definitively loses this position unless he successfully appeals to the OGH.

For the LIVA, the decision is a signal that it can defend its personnel decisions even before higher courts. It had apparently consciously accepted the legal dispute in order to achieve a judicial clarification of the breach of duty.

Consequences for Kerschbaum

The proceedings shed light on the question of under what conditions a managing director of a municipally affiliated cultural institution can be dismissed and what requirements must be met when asserting a sustained breach of trust. Even though the OLG ultimately assessed the facts in favor of the LIVA, comparable cases depend heavily on the specifics of the individual case.

At the time of reporting, no statement from Dietmar Kerschbaum on the OLG decision was available. In an initial response, the LIVA referred to the ruling and described the decision as a confirmation of its approach.

It remains unclear whether Kerschbaum will use the deadline to file an extraordinary appeal (außerordentliche Revision) with the Supreme Court of Justice. Should this not happen, the OLG's ruling will become final and the dismissal will take definitive effect.