While Rune Almenning Jarstein is in Norway and trains with Oddthe feud between the 38-year-old and his former employer Hertha Berlin continues in the legal system in Germany.
In a letter that the club has sent to the court and Jarstein’s lawyer, Horst Kletke, the conflict that led to Jarstein being dismissed is described.
Accused of insults
The two parties’ lawyers met first round in court in Berlin in November. Kletke then described a situation that is tough for Jarstein to deal with, and the club was told to come up with a written justification for terminating the contract.
The club previously did not want to say why Jarstein was dismissed, but now confirms the reports that have been circulating in the press.
According to the contents of the letter, an argument with goalkeeping coach Andreas Menger during a training session on 12 August led to Jarstein being called to a meeting with sports director Fredi Bobic, among others, present.
Hertha claims that Jarstein allegedly insulted Menger during the meeting and says that this is the reason for the dismissal. Lawyer Kletke is careful not to comment on the content of the letter, but is clearly not impressed by the reasoning.
– Thin case
– The central point here is whether he has offended Menger, and whether this is a good enough reason to terminate the contract. In my opinion, the things he is accused of are not enough, and they are not correct anyway, he says.
It is unclear exactly which words the club claims Jarstein should have used. Kletke says the following about the accusations:
– I do not wish to publicly comment on the details of the letter until we have submitted our reply.
He is nevertheless clear that he believes the Berlin club has a thin case in court and that the recent letter does not change anything.
– It is a question of interpretation whether the statements can justify the dismissal, but you must prove the allegations anyway. We are already in the process of responding and will do so thoroughly, he says.
New round in court
The lawyer has until 2 February to respond to the club in writing. A new court hearing is scheduled for early March. Journalist Paul Gorgas, who covers the case for the newspaper Bild, has stated to TV 2 that he believes the case will generally be decided before that time.
– I think the most likely thing is that they will reach a settlement, says Gorgas.
Rune Jarstein made a comeback for the club last summer after being out injured for 468 days. He was hailed by the fans when he played a training match against Babelsberg in July, and announced that he is ready for more national team games. Since then he has not played an official match.
Jarstein has not commented on the conflict since being fired from the club, and did not respond to TV 2’s inquiries in this matter. Hertha has also not answered questions related to the content of the letter and the statements from Horst Kletke.
