October 29, 2020
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After the consumer protection association (VSV) filed four official liability suits against the Republic of Austria due to the Ischgl case, the financial procurator, as a lawyer of the republic, denies the allegations. This emerged from a response that has now been issued. It was also stated that sole or contributory negligence due to the plaintiffs’ “carelessness” had to be examined.
It was argued that, among other things, the first infections in Tyrol had been known since the end of February and the number of infections in neighboring Italy had increased. “The plaintiff must have been aware of the epidemiological danger associated with the Covid-19 virus and the danger posed by the Covid-19 virus” – nevertheless, he decided to travel to Ischgl.
For the SAAM this response was a “monstrous perpetrator-victim reversal”. The association will “refute the misrepresentations point by point” and have already “brought further lawsuits against the republic”. This will continue to be done. After Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) did not respond to the association’s proposal to convene a “round table”, “we will also organize a class action with thousands of plaintiffs in 2021”. The VSV appealed to Kurz to find an out-of-court solution.
A major outbreak of the corona virus had occurred in the Tyrolean winter sports resort of Ischgl. The first cases became known at the beginning of March, the infections are said to have mainly happened in après-ski bars. The authorities were accused of reacting too late and insufficiently.
The consumer protection association (VSV) had submitted a statement of facts to the public prosecutor’s office in Innsbruck. More than 6,000 Tyrol holidaymakers from 45 countries reported to the VSV as victims. The Innsbruck public prosecutor’s office initiated investigative proceedings on suspicion of endangering people from communicable diseases, which was initially still ongoing. An already presented expert report chaired by ex-Supreme Court Vice-President Ronald Rohrer saw no failure, but misjudgments. Pressure from the tourism industry on decision makers was not found.
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