2024-10-03 09:26:44
After the death of Richard “Mörtel” Lugner, his widow Simone received a surprising dismissal. Now she is drawing conclusions.
After a temporary separation, Richard and Simone Lugner celebrated a love comeback at the beginning of 2024 and sealed it with a wedding a few weeks later on June 1st. However, their happiness together did not last long. On August 12th, construction lion Lugner, who was nicknamed “Mörtel”, died at the age of 91. As his wife, Simone Lugner held a position at his “Lugner City” shopping center. However, a few weeks after her husband’s death, his daughter kicked her out of the company. But that probably has consequences.
As “Bild” reports, Richard Lugner’s daughter Jacqueline, who is part of the management alongside Gerald Friede, signed Simone Lugner’s resignation. “Mörtel’s” widow appears horrified in an interview with the newspaper. She wanted to continue working for “Lugner City” even after his death and “imagined it all so beautiful.” Now she wants to draw conclusions: “That’s why I’m going to try to contest the termination. My lawyer is checking what we can do,” she says.
The 42-year-old explains that she has geared her life towards the “Lugner City” job and probably gave up a good position in a hardware store chain for it. Regarding her termination, she is certain: “That is definitely not in Richard Lugner’s spirit. The management doesn’t seem to care.” In fact, Richard Lugner expressed his wish in an “Bild” interview at the beginning of August that his wife should take on an important role in his company after his death: “At some point, when I no longer exist, she will be the sole boss.”
Simone Lugner gives an interview to the Austrian broadcaster oe24.TV on Wednesday evening in the program “Fellner! Live”. Parts of it were already published in advance by the news portal’s online magazine “oe24”. “My dream was, in addition to running Lugner City, to open my own shop together with Jacqueline and Mr. Friede and to offer Lugner merchandise there,” she says.
In addition to Simone Lugner, a “Lugner City” spokeswoman also commented on the case. She cited changed circumstances resulting from management’s realignment and reorganization of the company as the reason for the termination, as the dpa reported.