Jaeger told me ‘things will get very dirty’, former MIA CEO tells tribunal

The former chief executive of Malta International Airport, Markus Klaushofer, has accused Vienna International Airport (VIE) board member Julian Jaeger of having warned him that “things will get very dirty” unless he signed a €400,000 golden handshake and confidentiality agreement to leave his MIA post.

Klaushofer, represented by lawyer Cedric Farrugia, filed a case of unfair dismissal against MIA, after he was sacked on 21 January, 2015 following a meeting with Jaeger, a former CEO at MIA, and MIA chairman Nikolaus Gretzmacher in Vienna.

VIE owns 33% of the shareholding in MIA.

According to Klaushofer, whose €175,907 contract was cut short of its 2017 expiry, Jaeger told him that his “bad relations” with Gretzmacher meant that he should vacate his CEO’s post.

Klaushofer believes his dismissal was motivated by VIE’s demand for regular access to MIA’s financial data, which he said was highly sensitive. “This fact meant that one single shareholder was being made privy to sensitive financial data, to the exclusion of all other shareholders, including the government of Malta, the holder of 27,060,000 shares in the company.”

Klaushofer said that upon legal advice, he instructed the chief financial officer to stop the practice, something that was normal procedure under predecessor Julian Jaeger.

“My stance did not go down very well with Gretzmacher and I believe that when Jaeger referred to a bad atmosphere between myself and the chairman, he was referring to my decision to stop the flow of sensitive information to VIE.”

He said that VIE would make “aggressive demands” for the data, and that he opposed requests from MIA chairman Nikolaus Gretzmacher to restart the process.

“Despite the fact that VIE is the largest shareholder in MIA and consequently had considerable clout, I nevertheless stopped this illegal process which is contrary to listing regulations,” Klaushofer told the Industrial Tribunal.

Klaushofer said that during his meeting with Jaeger and Gretzmacher, despite pointing out MIA’s improvement in performance, Jaeger reiterated that “he still felt unhappy with me being CEO of the company and demanded that I resign.”

He said that Jaeger read him an internal MIA memo, prepared by company lawyers Camilleri Preziosi, citing concerns on confidentiality and professional secrecy. “The memo was vague and essentially explained the position at law in relation to professional secrecy. It however did not indicate any wrongdoing on my behalf. I specifically asked if I had anything wrong and both Jaeger and Gretzmacher avoided the answer.”

According to reports in the Austrian press, Klaushofer reportedly held unauthorised meetings in Paris with Antin Infrastructure in a bid to take over VIE’s shareholding in MIA. He has denied the allegations, which MIA have also reported to the police.

“Julian Jaeger did not divulge any further information on the internal memo and said that I will be compensated for my resignation,” Klaushofer said of the €400,000 parachute he was offered, but that was only available on condition that he relinquish any court action and “that I do not make any negative remarks against MIA.”

Klaushofer said he refused to sign the golden handshake. “I immediately felt that this was a form of blackmail which was a direct manoeuvre by VIE to get rid of me. I strongly objected to the offer being made, as I did not consider it to be an offer but rather an unfair dismissal on unjustified grounds with a muzzle placed on me to ensure that I do not react in any way.”

He also said that Gretzmacher hardly spoke during the meeting that was being conducted by Julian Jaeger.

Klaushofer said the former MIA chief executive “simply represented the interests of [VIE’s] 33% shareholding” and was not part of the MIA board. “I was perplexed by the fact that Jaeger was reading from an internal memo of MIA, in view of the fact that he was not supposed to be privy to such information.”

He also alleged that Jaeger, once a friend who had supported Klaushofer’s appointment as CEO, “turned aggressive and stated that if I do not take up the offer I will be very sorry as ‘things will get very dirty’. I strongly objected to what was being said to me and I reiterated my position that I had no intention of resigning as there was no reason to resign. Gretzmacher and Jaeger stated that they regretted my decision and they had no alternative but to ask the board for my dismissal.”

After this meeting, Klaushofer was called in to the MIA board of directors meeting being held in Vienna, where Gretzmacher announced that he was going to be removed as CEO. “I attended the board meeting for not more than three minutes, during which I was still not clear about what I was being accused of and moreover I was not given the opportunity to make a proper presentation to the board about my position.”