A VW employee does not want to be addressed in gender-appropriate language and is therefore suing the subsidiary Audi. Apparently, gender is still a hot topic – now the judges in the courtroom have to deal with it too.
The dispute over the guidelines for gender-appropriate language at Audi AG will deal with a civil chamber of the Ingolstadt district court on Tuesday (June 14). An employee of the parent company VW, who has to work with Audi colleagues, had sued Audi after the company did not want to issue a cease-and-desist declaration. He sees his general personal rights violated by the gender guidelines.
The carmaker issued a company policy on gender-sensitive language last year. The plaintiff is bothered by the fact that gender forms such as the underscore (“employees”) should be used in communication with him.
As a spokesman for the court explained, the judge will first try to reach an amicable agreement between the parties. If this does not succeed, the main hearing will then begin immediately.
In March 2021, Audi introduced guidelines for gender-sensitive language “to improve the visibility of gender diversity”. It is about how the employees should communicate in writing in a gender-sensitive manner. Audi proposes either neutral formulations (“manager” instead of “boss”) or the so-called gender gap, with which the male and female forms are connected with an underscore – this is how the previous “Audians” become “Audians”.
The plaintiff’s two lawyers also regard the proceedings as a kind of test case. “This is a question that affects society,” said lawyer Dirk Giesen.
The lawsuit is supported by the German Language Association, which generally rejects gender and speaks of an “ideology”. “Under the cloak of equality, the means of communication language is sacrificed through gendering,” complains the association. Other language maintenance organizations are less clear, but like the Society for German Language, they sometimes point out that the grammatical rules should still be observed when gendering.
Audi itself does not want to make any concrete statement on the content of the ongoing legal proceedings. Apart from that, however, the company wants to maintain an organizational culture that is characterized by mutual respect and appreciation, said Audi spokesman Wolfgang Schmid. “The use of gender-sensitive language means communication that values and takes into account all genders and gender identities.”
It is not yet clear when there will be a verdict in the case. Further progress is likely to depend on the result of the first day of the trial. Civil proceedings often take much longer than criminal proceedings and can be protracted.
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