A cry of joy?

Online retailer Zalando obtained a preliminary injunction against the television broadcaster RTL before the Regional Court (LG) Cologne.

The subject matter of the proceedings was a report within the framework of the RTL programme "Extra" in which serious allegations were made against the working conditions in the Zalando logistics centre in Erfurt, Thuringia. An RTL journalist worked undercover as a warehouse worker in the logistics centre for the online fashion retailer for three months for this purpose. In the broadcast aired on 14.04.2014, RTL reported, among other things, that

• there had been a death in the Erfurt logistics centre
• when the journalist experienced circulatory problems, no one offered her help
• employees had to cover up to 27 kilometres daily
• the human resources department had ordered that no chronically ill person be "dragged along" for longer than six months
• Zalando had not responded to a request for a statement

Zalando issued a statement immediately after the broadcast on its website and announced improvements. In doing so, Zalando commented extensively on the allegations and stated, among other things, that there had never been a death in the Erfurt logistics centre. In the case of the journalist, a first aider had been on site. The measurements of the distances travelled, on which RTL's reporting was based, were unreliable; Zalando's occupational physicians had determined average walking distances of 15-20 km. The alleged statement by the human resources department did not correspond to the truth, and moreover Zalando had never received an official inquiry from RTL.

Since RTL refused to correct the inaccurate points, the online retailer applied to the LG Cologne for a preliminary injunction against the broadcaster. Successfully.

On the court's decision

The LG Cologne followed Zalando's arguments and initially granted the application for a preliminary injunction. RTL is now prohibited from disseminating the aforementioned statements. The broadcaster must at least for now remove these statements from its report.

Conclusion

The decision has not yet been published. According to media reports, RTL has already filed an objection against the decision. It thus remains to be seen whether the court will alter its decision. This would be possible if the broadcaster could prove the accuracy of the disputed statements. If the broadcaster failed to conduct thorough research into the content of the reporting, proof would be difficult. In that case, it would be assumed that the judicial prohibition would remain in place.