Legal bills force Andreasen to drop part of court action

By Martin Banks

Date: 31/03/05

MARTA Andreasen, the ousted accountant of the European Commission, has dropped part of her court action against her former employer because of mounting legal bills.

She has asked the European Court of First Instance which hears staff legal disputes to discontinue two of the three cases she has brought against the Commission. She is dropping her challenges to the decision in May 2002 to transfer her from her 125,000 euro-a-year post and to her subsequent suspension, three months later. A hearing had been arranged for these two cases next Wednesday (6 April).

Andreasen, who recently had an application for legal aid rejected, says she faces huge legal fees and can no longer afford to pursue the two cases. "I have asked the Court to discontinue two of the cases so I can concentrate my efforts on the more fundamental issue of my dismissal," she said.

After a 26-month suspension on full pay, Andreasen was sacked in October 2004 for breach of trust and disloyalty. She had spoken out publicly against the Commission's accounting systems. No date has yet been fixed for a court hearing for the appeal against dismissal.

Andreasen believes the publicity surrounding the case may be adversely affecting her prospects of finding another job. She said that in the five months since her dismissal she had applied for 35 jobs - financial accounting and auditing posts in the private sector, mostly in London and Brussels.

"I can only conclude that I am paying the price for speaking out," she said.

Article reports that Marta Andreasen, the ousted accountant of the European Commission, dropped part of her court action against her former employer because of mounting legal bills.