VW escapes a 4.3 million euro fine in the diesel scandal due to a breakdown!

VW escapes a 4.3 million euro fine in the diesel scandal due to a breakdown!

The diesel scandal has weighed heavily on Volkswagen over the past few years, and recent developments show the company continues to face legal challenges. The Volkswagen Group has currently avoided a fine of 4.3 million euros that would have resulted from data protection violations. How Mainpost reported that a key authority, the Hanover public prosecutor, was negligent in its correspondence and had forgotten to sign an important document. This glitch meant that the company cannot be asked to pay for the time being.

The focus of the legal disputes is the inadequate information given to employees about the transfer of their data to Larry Thompson, the US supervisory authority. Dealing with the diesel scandal, which was uncovered in 2015, has presented a new problem. Courts had to decide whether Volkswagen was allowed to pass on the names of 22 employees to the US authorities without providing them with sufficient information - which was ultimately also part of the negotiations HNA reported.

Data protection in the crossfire

The Hanover Administrative Court's ruling came after more than six hours of proceedings and highlighted that while the names of the employees were allowed to be handed over, their information about them was inadequate. Of a total of five warnings that the Lower Saxony data protection officer issued to VW, two were decided in favor of the company, but three were decided against it. In particular, the accusation that the communication with the EPA auditors was not adequately documented was reinforced.

The CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament has described the matter as a scandal and is planning a discussion in the legal committee. A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office described the situation as an isolated incident caused by unfortunate circumstances and heavy workloads. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how VW will react to the data protection requirements that still apply.

A bloody scandal

Volkswagen's diesel scandal has captivated the company since 2015 and the legal consequences add up to an impressive 32 billion euros. The aspects of data protection that are now increasingly coming into focus could cause VW a significant headache in further processing. The courts involved agree that VW was partially justified, but not in its entirety: the diesel scandal remains not only a financial but also a legal minefield for the automobile manufacturer.

While the verdict is not yet final and both VW and the public prosecutor are considering how to proceed, the public perception of the company remains under scrutiny. The challenges in communication and data protection regulations are now current and future challenges that Volkswagen has to deal with.

In this situation, the question arises: How will VW comply with data protection regulations in the future and at the same time regain the trust of its employees and customers? A good hand will be required here.