Court orders new Daimler hearing
A German federal court on Friday ordered a new hearing of a claim for damages by DaimlerChrysler AG shareholders who maintain the company did not announce in proper time that former CEO Juergen Schrempp planned to step down.
A Stuttgart court rejected the claim in February 2007. It ruled that the July 2005 announcement had been made in a timely way.
However, the Federal Court of Justice said judges failed to consider sufficient evidence and ordered a new hearing.
The lower court found that the company had no obligation to announce Schrempp’s departure before its supervisory board made a formal decision, and was not obliged to announce earlier that discussions had taken place on a possible changeover.
Schrempp was replaced as CEO by Dieter Zetsche, who has since sold most of the company’s stake in its former U.S payday advance lender. arm, Chrysler. The automaker is now known as Daimler AG.
News of Schrempp’s departure sent the stock up 10%, dismaying investors who had sold shares in the preceding days. The company has said plaintiffs are seeking a total of some €6.5 million ($10 million) in damages.
Daimler (DAI) spokeswoman Ursula Mertzig-Stein said Friday that the company still believes it released an ad-hoc statement announcing Schrempp’s departure at the proper time.
It was not immediately clear when the Stuttgart court would hold a new hearing of the damages claim.
Filed under: online by Wolf