Hans van Medenbach, the director of student accommodation provider Idealis, has been sacked by the housing corporation. The court report of the dismissal proceedings reveals that Idealis had lost confidence in the director, in particular because of how he communicated with the municipality and Wageningen UR. The application for a dismissal states that there had been doubts for some years about the management style adopted by Van Medenbach, the Idealis boss since 2004. Managers and the supervisory board were dissatisfied with how Van Medenbach represented Idealis in dealings with the municipality and university. It is common knowledge that relations between Idealis and Wageningen UR have been poor for some time. That was evident in 2011, for instance, when Van Medenbach lodged an objection to the construction of temporary student accommodation on the Haarweg. The result was a shortage of housing for international students at the start of the academic year. The university is increasingly organizing accommodation for international students itself, with housing in Ede and Bennekom. It is also looking for a different partner to Idealis for the construction of rooms on campus.
Severance pay
Idealis says that Van Medenbach was held to account for his behaviour and even got an official warning from the supervisory board. However, that did not lead to the desired improvement. The court documents show that the former director himself feels he is not to blame. He says it is the university that is primarily responsible for the strained relations. The court judge ruled that it is difficult to decide who is responsible for the impaired relationship. ‘However, the fact is that the situation is not as it should be and the employee has not been able to change this.’ Van Medenbach will receive severance pay of 175,000 euros. Idealis pointed to the coalition agreement limiting severance pay to 75,000 euros but the judge did not want to act in anticipation of the planned measure.