A man from Bonn has filed a lawsuit against his dismissal because he says he was fired because of his gender refusal. The “Welt” reports on the case, which will be heard on September 7th at the Bonn Labor Court.
The man was the managing director of a non-profit organization that is supported by six social organizations and is largely financed from taxes. The newspaper report shows that the gender dispute between the doctorate in sociology and the association has been smoldering for several years.
The association has increasingly relied on gender, and he himself has openly spoken out against it. After a debate triggered by a brochure, his gender lecture at a general meeting in November 2018 caused an uproar. At that time, it was decided by vote to cancel the lecture. The subsequent discussion was also deleted. This is based on the minutes of the meeting that are available to the “world”.
In February 2019, the Executive Board then made gender a standard. From this point on, official texts such as press releases or on the organization’s website had to be gendered. This did not yet apply to personal contributions, such as author texts or reports by guest authors. The plaintiff: “I thought the fundamental decision to use gender language was regrettable, but as long as I wasn’t personally forced to do so, I could live with it.” “.
Three years later, in February 2022, gendering became comprehensively mandatory. The plaintiff wrote an email with several questions about the implementation – how to proceed if the interview partner has not changed, how to deal with the different specifications for gender spelling at the club and the sponsoring associations. Instead of an answer to his email, he received the termination.
Particularly hard: It was shortly before starting psychosomatic rehabilitation and only a few months before he retired in May 2023.
The chairman of the association did not want to comment on the case when asked by “Welt”. In addition to the gender conflict, the association’s letter of defense lists other reasons for dismissal: insufficient preparation for the 2020 Bundestag, absence from congresses or errors in budget management.
The plaintiff disagrees. His budget reports were always “taken without objection” and he was even able to increase the public support funds. The “Welt” also has a very positive interim report from November 2020.
The lawsuit will be heard on September 7th at the Bonn Labor Court. It is the first lawsuit in Germany about a dismissal due to a possible gender dispute. The output should have signal power.
