Former top Roc Leiden not liable
Former directors and supervisors of Roc Leiden cannot be held liable for the financial problems caused by two controversial new-build projects. This is the verdict of the Central Netherlands court in a case brought by the school. The real estate debacle almost killed the MBO school.
Image: Erik Soft, Wikipedia (CC license)
Roc Leiden, which has been known as Mbo Rijnland since the merger with ID College, wanted to recover the damage from two former administrators and thirteen former supervisors. According to the court falls their'no serious reproach' to make. 'What is important here is that the construction project fitted in with the spirit of the time, in which MBO institutions were encouraged to compete and to develop work-study parks.' In a number of areas, the court ruled that Roc Leiden had insufficiently substantiated its accusations.
The court is surprised that the former supervisors have been charged at all, while the Meurs committee saw no reason to do so. At the end of 2015, that committee, set up by the then Minister of Education Bussemaker, ruled harshly on the real estate debacle. Former directors, including former chairman Jacques van Gaal, had taken 'irresponsible risks' with the new building. The Committee was also critical of the role of the Supervisory Board.
The civil proceedings lasted eighteen months, which were conducted entirely in writing - without a hearing. A remarkable passage from the judgment concerns the damage that Roc Leiden claims to have suffered. The defendants dispute that there is any damage because the institution received an extra 40 million euros to keep its head above water. That money was deducted from the national MBO budget and thus raised by all MBO institutions together.
Mbo Rijnland is studying the verdict, a spokesman said.
