Lawsuit against Bayer AG for their report on risks (due diligence)  - initiated in November 2018

The German Freedom of Information Act (IFG) regulates the right of access to public authorities, not to private companies. Therefore, my lawyer Raphael Thomas has filed a lawsuit against Bayer AG for disclosure of its internal report referring to the risks of the Monsanto acquisition (due diligence). I do not want to know their internal policies or secrets referring to new products. I only want to know if, in the future, the taxpayers may find themselves confronted with the situation of bailing out the company. There are many cases pending for damage because of the use of the pesticide Glifosat –about 10.000 only in the US. The case might be that the reserves and re-insurances of Bayer –the legal successor of Monsanto– are not sufficient, and that in order to avoid bankruptcy, the German government will declare the company "too big to fail" and pay of the losses.

On February 2019, the Court in Köln discussed the case. Obviously, the judges did not want to work to much. The denied my right for the access of this information with only one argument: the German FOIA does not include private firms. I also lost in the Higher Regional Court. The case is closed.