Indulgences ended - bought out by Landefeld

If you just want to take a quick look here, whether I can recommend the company Landefeld Druckluft & Hydraulik in Kassel as an employer: No, absolutely: I cannot.

Warum Sie Kununu nicht 100% vertrauen sollten

And if you just want to read here quickly, can you trust 100% on Kununu reviews: No, you can't either. Although Kununu makes a great effort to allow critical voices (perhaps even more so than other review platforms):
A) Kununu is financed by the payments from the companies advertising on it. "Whose bread I eat, his song I sing..."
B) (and this is much more important) there are many specialized lawyers and law firms that want to keep their clients' (which are again the companies from A) record clean... And money is involved once again.
And one should also the option
C) keep in mind that bosses, company owners, and ubiquitous brown-nosers can post whitewashed reviews of their own companies on Kununu, which then significantly distort the true overall picture.
A) is obvious, B) I experienced myself firsthand while recounting my experiences during my time working for Landefeld Druckluft & Pneumatik in Kassel, and C) I could cite reviews for Landefeld in Kassel, which I suspect are from C) The kind of reviews where I would identify the managing director or one of his loyal employees as the author. And I am sure that I would have hit the nail on the head.

What my time as an employee at Landefeld cost me

Since leaving Landefeld, I have been in legal dispute with this company. This legal dispute has cost me approximately 100,000 Euros (or even more, I am still gathering receipts) to date.

Not in a figurative sense, but real Euros. If I include my client's costs, we should even easily reach 150,000 Euros. But for simplicity's sake, let's just stick to my expenses. This doesn't even include lost work, unnecessary travel due to last-minute canceled court dates, etc.

Examples of these outputs to defend myself in court against my former employer, Landefeld Druckluft & Pneumatik in Kassel:
2022: 55,000 Euro contribution to the settlement costs for my client to end the almost decade-long tug-of-war between this client and the company Landefeld.
2022: 8,922 Euros Legal Fees
2021: 10,000 Euros to a non-profit organization to end my own tug-of-war between me and the company Landefeld Druckluft und Pneumatik in Kassel.
2021: 4,447 Euros Legal Fees
2019: 1,846 Euros for legal fees
2019: 3,645 Euros Lawyer's fees
2019: 1,511 Euros Legal Costs
2014: Approx. 6,000 Euros for replacement of hardware confiscated in this context
To be continued

By the way, the lawsuit wasn't about any real financial disadvantages for the Landefeld company! It was about the minefield of „copyright,“ see the last paragraph of this post for more. That's why the court, lawyer and expert costs were quite high without any real outcome.

How could this happen?

Oof… that's a loooong story. Well… looking back, I wonder about it myself, of course. There were enough warnings in my life that could have prevented this. The easiest way would have been to never accept a permanent position at that company in Kassel. Hindsight is always 20/20. The story spans over 20 years of my life and also needs to shed light on other companies and previous companies affected before the permanent position at Landefeld. I certainly wouldn't start at Landefeld in Kassel again, but why did I… at all started? It's too long and actually too intimate to publish here. If you're more interested, why not pay me a visit? I can promise you an exciting time with deep insights into the world of IT and entanglements with management. You can hear from me about employee surveillance. You might also be interested in the story of a cell phone with pornographic content and its storage location. I can tell you about lots of unpaid overtime. Of shared celebrations and experiences, and broken friendships that probably never deserved to be called that. Of many traces of a working life that still make companies successful and rich today after many years. Of private party and work equipment provided and what has changed where as a result. Of broken promises in large quantities. Of court dates that were probably willfully canceled at short notice and postponed decisions. And not just broken promises, but also broken people who are now dependent on medical help. Some of these experiences are downright ordinary for someone who works in IT. They have affected and changed me particularly deeply. But also for the better here and there! You learn a lot in IT - and you should learn a lot and quickly in IT. See next point.

What did that do to me?

First of all, this time has made me more distrustful. I would even go so far as to say that I've absorbed some of the persecution complex that was demonstrated. I feel the same way as Theo Zwanziger, who, as is well known, was intensely spied on and now no longer knows whom to trust. My laptops, my network-attached storage (NAS), my phone: all devices, all files are now encrypted – with the corresponding effort. When it comes to encryption, if you want to be precise, that's even an advantage. You shouldn't operate unencrypted hard drives etc. You never know who might get their hands on them, even if it's just for a hard drive replacement due to a defect.
During my time as an employee at Landefeld Druckluft und Hydraulik in Kassel, I got to the point where I flinched whenever the phone rang. An estimated 90% of the calls were some crap because someone had broken something or didn't understand. Or both. Of course, there were also some hang-ups from me. Where there's wood, there are chips. This telephone terror has haunted me since 1993! Ever since I started working in IT. So not only at Landefeld, that's the fate of an IT specialist. But at Landefeld compressed air was very intense and lasted over 18 years. Really! That's how long I've worked for them! Unbelievable, seen „from behind“... Something like that changes you. And it's only here, in the Philippines, that this feeling of being a serf is slowly falling away from me again. In 2021 in Germany and even in early 2022, I actually had dreams - well, let's call them nightmares - that I would actually work for this company again! What a terrible thought after this experience and these experiences. In the meantime, my nights have become carefree to fun again, which I prefer. And: I no longer have nosebleeds! During my time as a service provider for Landefeld or as an employee of this company, I had nosebleeds several times a week, sometimes several times a day! I was already familiar with this from before, so I didn't pay any attention to it. Now that I have received my just punishment for my willingness to help and my willingness to sacrifice myself for the Landefelds and have atoned with many euros (this used to be called „selling indulgences“: money for peace of mind), and after I have created a very healthy distance between myself and Landefelds from Kassel (also Baunatal and Niedenstein and Speele), the nosebleeds... have stopped! Yes, really! No sclerotherapy, no medication was necessary: Just enough distance from this hell on earth.

Extreme case of paranoia

I just had to deal with a special case of „learned paranoia“ a few days ago... hopefully, that will pass too. I'm recounting this incident for two reasons:
Because that's still quite symptomatic, and I actually thought I'd gotten rid of those reflexes.
B) To protect you. It's not a question of whether you will fall victim to phishing – fraudulent emails intended to harm you. It's a question of when. Therefore, I'm packing many links into this paragraph so you can prepare or quickly get information in case of damage.

What happened? I had a „pretty normal“ Phishing/Spearfishing Mail received:

Here is the list again in German. Well, it could have ended here. The sender is a .com address, an unclear domain address that doesn't identify the purported sender, a mail with meager, repeatedly usable content (something like this has to be done in bulk = automated, because spam filters and users are becoming more cautious), suspicious attachments (winmail.dat), and the message creates a sense of urgency.

Also... not the first email of this kind, and not the last.
Here are more links for email security. Tip: Take the time. Eventually, you will also receive a really well-made phishing email and think it's from Aunt Anna, your long-lost school friend, your employer, or so on and so forth...
* Very good phishing email, which even builds conversation and CC for the intended recipient
* Personally crafted emails as an entry point for spear-phishing. (Highly targeted phishing!)
If you have customer-sensitive data on your computer, like I do, encryption is absolutely essential. I learned that the hard way at my previous employer, Landefeld in Kassel... or rather, during and after the end of my employment. It's an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. Nevertheless should be one must be aware that one can also be on the front lines against attacks with this, and must pay much more attention to threats. Protect yourself, before You have bad experiences with ransomware and the like!

And what's special about a phishing email?

What does that have to do with my „persecution complex“ and my former employer Landefeld? Exactly: Nothing! That's the point!
The email simply contained the word „Abmahnung“ (warning/cease and desist letter). Nothing else. No specific name, no background, no content, no details, no nothing. The only specific terms were „Herr Thöne“ and „derordersatz.de“. That's it. Any idiot who searches for "Impressum" on Google can find these two identifiers.

And? What do I make of that? After I deleted the email and informed and deleted the sender – as described above – I had a… yes, what was it exactly? Probably something like uncertainty.
And I contacted my lawyer in Germany. Sort of like, better safe than sorry. Anyway, and from this lawyer came various recommendations. There was another comment – to be heard between the lines, not explicitly stated –: Why should I care, I'm abroad. All done right :-). But since I had already asked him once, I naturally also followed his advice. My – truly serious – suggestion: If you really plan to start working at the company Landefeld in Kassel: Visit me once beforehand. The Philippines are worth a trip, and Davao is a great city, especially for a first vacation in Asia. It's not for nothing that they say: Davao: Life is here. And by the way, I can get out a few documents that we can talk about over a beer... But even without this trip, a very serious (and general!) tip, especially if you are planning to do something creative in your new job (e.g. design, programming, creating documents...): Before signing a contract, take out legal expenses insurance that matches your planned field of activity! This could have saved ME tens of thousands of euros. And if I can save you my experience with this - or any other - company with such a small tip, I would be very happy. There are better things in life than going to court and talking to lawyers. This advice explicitly applies not only, but „only“ to the Landefeld company in Kassel! If you work creatively for an employer, it could be that you create works of genius. E.g. great computer programs, valuable logos etc.
Hereby you are immediately moving on the path of copyright. As mentioned above, this path has already cost me the amounts mentioned and much more nerves.

Abuse complaints via email

I am including this paragraph here only for your convenience. I received these links from a lawyer and felt it would be a shame to just throw them away. If you use these search terms Cease and desist letters and e-mail If you've arrived at this page, you might be able to save yourself a few clicks. Google likes my pages, therefore I am present on the first page for many searches, and I simply want to save you time with this.

Is a warning letter by email legally valid? Spoiler alert: In principle, yes, but...
Viewed from another angle again (copyright): Is a warning letter by email effective? Also, „in principle“ again.
Oh right... and what's the „principle“? The warning must simply arrive and be legible and clearly understandable. For example, if it's already deleted by the spam filter on the mail server, it didn't arrive. Just read the linked article.

What can you learn from this?

If you are a graphic designer, software developer, or designer, clarify with your future employer BEFORE starting what usage rights you can derive from your work yourself. By the way, this has nothing to do with authorship: this always and automatically remains with you as the author.

If you want to start working as a software developer in any company (this has nothing to do with the company Landefeld specifically, I just had this painful experience as an employee there), expect to practically automatically lose the exploitation rights to any software development, even private, to your employer! Incompetent experts and clueless judges (this is not just a gendered statement, in my case it was literally a female judge!) may not even be able to or want to exclude ancient mathematical algorithms or completely empty programs/code units from this automatic clause. Really! Experienced it firsthand! If you visit me, I'll get out some court documents that I unfortunately can't post here. Funny: I'm allowed to show them privately! ... That's Germany for you. It speaks the law but doesn't want to hear anything more about it afterward 🙂

Before signing an employment contract, take out legal protection insurance! Perhaps also have your employment contract reviewed before signing, for example by consumer protection services or a legally knowledgeable friend.

*Just this again as a software developer: Consider whether you'd rather work as a freelancer than as a salaried employee. Include in your general terms and conditions or other contracts the sole further exploitation and usage rights! No matter what you plan to do with it later: it's only about not offering any points of attack. Because it was precisely this legal area (exploitation rights) that was the subject of the 10-year legal dispute (2013-2022) between me, my client in Munich, and the company Landefeld.

If you want to work as a software developer, negotiate or clarify what should happen with the usage rights for software you create. If you are hired by Microsoft to create the next version of Excel, you will hardly be able to claim usage rights for it. However, if you are simply creating software (tools) in your daily work for your employer for their operational use, you should be alert if your (future) employer is not willing to automatically grant you the further usage rights to the software you create.

Encrypt all (!!) data carriers & storage devices you use. Also, business storage locations if possible. If you encounter a malicious employer, they can easily arrange a house search and seizure with a friendly prosecutor. You must hand over all hardware that is requested... but luckily, in Germany, you do not have to reveal a password in your head - yet.

Strictly separate company and private data storage! For example, never browse privately on a company PC, never handle private emails on a company phone, and never use a company phone for private photos! Please also note that company phones may be equipped with tracking software, meaning they can send your current location to someone at any time, with or without your knowledge, who may not need to know this location outside of your working hours. Golden rule: Turn off the company phone outside of company usage hours, and disable GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi in the settings.

Consider whether you really want to accept a company car. This creates several levels of dependence at once. The most important one might be the psychological effect: "I have a company car, I'm important." This may well be true, that you are important, but it also makes you more dependent. If you accept a company car, you set aside the money from selling your old private car and the monthly savings for the company car. Should you want to change employers very quickly at some point, you will already have the first buffer to quickly resolve your dependence on the company car.

Be careful which „friendships“ you accept on social networks like Facebook. It's better to classify strangers and (former) colleagues as „acquaintances“ or „distant acquaintances,“ or forgo the connection altogether. Assume that a hostile employer will spy on you and your surroundings through your colleagues and/or fake accounts.

Separate „professional“ from „private.“ Your employer gives you money because you earn them a lot more money. You are an investment, just like a CNC machine, a pen, or an office building. There may be companies out there where it's different. Whether your employer is one of them, you'll only know, if you leave him. This is like married partners. Until that point, you should assume that everything you previously experienced as „friendship“ between yourself and supervisors was merely to bind you more to the company. Rule of thumb: CEOs generally don't get rich through „friendships.“ Therefore, in these circles, it's not called a „circle of friends,“ but „networks.“ Pay attention to the nuance.
Besides the stress, time commitment, and money, this was actually my most painful experience after leaving the company Landefeld (but not only there!): There is no such thing as „friendship“ with employees. Not even between employees. No matter what you're led to believe beforehand, no matter what you're shown beforehand. Companies are like the (former) German armed forces, colleagues are like comrades: alliances of convenience to get tasks done.

As already hinted at above: Consider whether you can also do your job as a freelancer. You can then use your own private car as a company car, use your own private mobile phone for your job, purchase items related to your profession at a significantly lower price than any private individual, relocate your business operations abroad...