21.09.2024
A hairdresser and a hotelier who fought against repayment notices were now successful before the Stuttgart Administrative Court. “Corona emergency aid is not a loan”.
The Stuttgart Administrative Court today upheld the lawsuit filed by a hairdresser and a hotel and restaurant business against the repayment of emergency Corona aid by the Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg (L-Bank).
This decision follows the groundbreaking rulings of the Freiburg Administrative Court (► read more) of July 2024, which also declared the repayments in several cases to be unlawful.
Bernhard Ries’ initiative “Hairdressers for Justice” has thus achieved another important partial success, we congratulate.
Prospects for success for self-employed people and companies increase
Today’s ruling significantly improves the chances for many affected companies and freelancers in Baden-Württemberg. Sectors particularly affected include hairdressing, the hotel and restaurant industry, retail, and the tourism, event and culture sectors. There are currently more than 1,000 legal proceedings pending in Baden-Württemberg in which small companies and self-employed people are contesting the recovery of emergency aid.
Key points of the judgment:
- Non-repayable grants: The emergency aid was originally intended as non-repayable grants granted. The L-Bank’s attempt to subsequently reinterpret the aid as repayable loans was deemed unlawful.
- Appeal allowed: The judgment is not yet final because the court has allowed the appeal. It is expected that the proceedings will be continued in the next instance.
Lawyer Christina Oberdorfer from the law firm of Buttlar Rechtsanwälte commented: “Today’s ruling is an important success for all companies in Baden-Württemberg that have been affected by Corona. It shows that the promised emergency aid must actually be granted in an unbureaucratic manner, as was originally intended.”
Significance for affected companies
The ruling will benefit numerous other companies that urgently needed the emergency aid during the pandemic. In Baden-Württemberg alone, around 10,000 objections to the repayment claims have been registered so far.
