Germany / Labour Court Gelsenkirchen/ 5 Ca 1444/15

Country

Germany

Title

Germany / Labour Court Gelsenkirchen/ 5 Ca 1444/15

View full Case

Year

2015

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Incident(s) concerned/related

Incitement to violence or hatred

Related Bias motivation

Race/Ethnicity

Groups affected

Migrants

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Labour Court (Arbeitsgericht)

Key facts of the case

A gardener in public employment published hate speech postings against migrants on Facebook. He was summoned to the staff council, which immediately terminated his employment contract. He claimed that he was not the author of the hate speech postings and that someone had hacked into his Facebook account. He filed a criminal complaint for defamation and hacking. The claimant also filed a petition to the Labour Court asking for an annulment of his employment contract termination.

Main reasoning/argumentation

The dismissal complied fully with legal requirements. The Facebook postings constitute a disrespect towards migrants and indigenous persons having contact with migrants; irrespective of fulfilling the criteria for sedition, this justifies an extraordinary dismissal due to severe damage to the trust relation with the employed.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

Criteria for hate speech; damage to the image of the employer and the trust relationship with the employee.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

Rejection of the claim; extraordinary dismissal has been upheld.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"Right-wing, racist and xenophobic statements on an employee on the private Facebook page naming also the public employer constitute a gross violation of collateral duties of the work contract, thus being a serious ground for an extraordinary dismissal according to $ 626 Abs 1."

"Rechtsradikale, rassistische und ausländerfeindliche Äußerungen eines Arbeitnehmers auf seiner privaten Facebook-Seite, die auch seinen Arbeitgeber des öffentlichen Diensts nennt, stellt eine schwerwiegende Nebenpflichtverletzung im Arbeitsverhältnis dar, die einen wichtigen Grund für eine außerordentliche Kündigung nach § 626 Abs 1 darstellt."

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