Fri, 31 Oct 2008

Second interim injunction against anti-Waldorf book

By Christian von Arnim

STUTTGART (NNA) – The Stuttgart regional court has for the second time prohibited the German publisher Gütersloher Verlagshaus, a subsidiary of Random House, from distributing the “Waldorf Black Book” by the journalist and author Michæl Grandt, a well-known opponent of anthroposophy, until misleading statements are corrected.

In a judgement delivered on 28 October, the regional court agreed with the Association of Waldorf Schools in Germany that the book contained errors of fact and in second interim injuction required the publisher to correct them before further distribution, the Association said in a press release.

“The publisher is accordingly required to stop distribution of the book for as long as the disputed statements can be found in the book,” the Association said.

In an earlier injunction, the court had ordered the publisher to stop publication of the book unless false claims made about corporal punishment in Waldorf schools were corrected. The book appeared with a “clarifying” insert. (See NNA report “Zero marks for accuracy from German Waldorf School Association for anti-Waldorf book”, 7 October 2008).

According to the Waldorf association statement, this second complaint was based on three passages in the “Black Book” concerning the participation of the Waldorf schools in the PISA study, the foundation of the first Waldorf school as well as the statutory teacher training regulations.

In the passage concerning the participation in the PISA study, Grandt quoted from an interview with the chairman of the German teachers’ association, Josef Kraus, according to which the Waldorf schools had not been involved in the study. This „inaccurate statement of facts may still not be promulgated … even if it was made by a third party,” the judgement says according to the Waldorf statement. Grandt also bore liability for Kraus’ inaccurate quote.

In fact 14 Waldorf schools had been randomly selected for the PISA study but only schools above a certain size were chosen. As a result the Waldorf schools in Jena and Balingen as well as in Austria had taken part in the study.

Further outstanding complaints would be dealt with in the main hearing, a spokesman of the Association of Waldorf Schools told NNA. No date has yet been set for this. The Association says there are 120 sections in the 224-page book containing “inaccurate, distorting or factually wrong information”.

The court also criticised the quality of the research for the “Waldorf Black Book”: “Apart from this, one is entitled to demand that in this respect the author who, according to his own objectives, wishes to deal critically with the ‘Waldorf’ system, should undertake a minimum level of research,” the Association of Waldorf Schools quotes the judgement as saying.

In a statement, Rainer Dresen, the lawyer acting for Random House, the parent company of Gütersloher Verlagsanstalt, told NNA that the book had long been distributed. The “few copies” still in stock would, however, no longer be distributed without the relevant sections blacked out and the changes would be incorporated in any subsequent editions. The court order would “of course be complied with”.

Dresen accused the Waldorf organisation of having focused on minor issues in its complaint, such as the wrong position of a comma. Dresen also wondered why the Association had taken no action against Josef Kraus at the time that he made his statement that no Waldorf schools had taken part in the PISA study but had waited until Grandt repeated the allegation in his book.

“This way of doing things, taking petty action against us but ignoring the really important matters – it makes me laugh,” Dresen said.

On his website, Michæl Grandt said yesterday: “The ruling of the regional court in the action against the Black Book was received by the publisher a few hours ago. Once it has been examined by lawyers, I will comment further.”

END/nna/cva

Item: 081031-01EN Date: 31 October 2008

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