The Supervisory Board of L1 announced the suspension of Elbers in a short statement on Tuesday. The council will discuss his future with the organization with Elbers. Initially, the Supervisory Board still sided with Elbers in the conflict with the staff and the Works Council.
The suspension is a provisional final piece of the lingering conflict between the director and his staff, which previously led to sick leave and work stoppages. The breach of trust was so great this spring that the case was referred to the Enterprise Chamber. This special Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal opened an investigation.
Incidentally, the Enterprise Chamber ruled in April that the functioning of Elbers is not the cause of the problems within L1. The ruling also states that suspending the director contributes more to perpetuating the problem than to solving it. The judge ruled harshly on the Ondernemersraad and stated that it did not function properly.
Hidden cameras
Director Elbers had a bad relationship with his staff from the start, but with a number of remarkable plans put the journalists of L1 against him for good. In February it was announced that Elbers wanted to install hidden cameras in the editorial office for certain situations. In addition, in certain cases he wanted to inspect the e-mail and internet traffic of his staff.
The journalists of the radio and television station revolted against this. They ordered a short work stoppage. In January the editors already sent a fire letter about the ‘authoritarian way’ of management of Elbers. This led to ‘unsustainable situations in the workplace’. Two out of three management members are sick at home. Elbers eventually withdrew his proposals, but the damage was done.
soured
Elbers’ surveillance plans further sharpen the relationship between management and staff. The relationship had already soured since his appointment in September 2020 by the Supervisory Board. Simultaneously with the arrival of Elbers, two administrators popular with the staff were fired.
L1’s works council felt belittled by this procedure and opposed the appointment of Elbers, who allegedly had too little journalistic experience – although he did an internship at a broadcaster in 1981, he worked as a spokesperson before his appointment. At the time, the Works Council went to court to annul Elber’s appointment, but lost the lawsuit.