LAG Cologne confirms termination of employment without notice
If an employee reads messages without authorization and also forwards the data, this is a reason for extraordinary termination without notice. This was decided by the Cologne Regional Labor Court in a judgment dated November 2, 2021 (Az.: 4 Sa 290/21).
The employer can only terminate an employment relationship outside and without notice if the employee seriously violates his or her obligations and the employer can no longer reasonably be expected to accept the termination of the employment relationship by the end of the notice period. “If an employee has violated his contractual obligation to be considerate and, as a result, has also violated personal rights, there is an important reason for external dismissal. This is shown by the judgment of the LAG Cologne,” says attorney Marcel Seifert, BRÜLLMANN Rechtsanwälte.
In the proceedings before the LAG Cologne, the plaintiff had worked as an administrative employee in a church community for more than 20 years. To the extent necessary for her work, she also had access to the pastor’s office computer. She read an e-mail that referred to an investigation against the pastor. In this context, she also found a private e-mail that she saved on a USB stick and forwarded to a community volunteer. Even if the plaintiff said she acted with good intentions to protect a woman, the church congregation pronounced the dismissal without notice.
With her action for protection against dismissal, the woman was successful in the first instance. The Aachen Labor Court found that her behavior provided a specific reason for the termination without notice, but considered this to be disproportionate due to the long and until then unencumbered employment relationship. Especially since there was no risk of repetition.
However, the LAG Cologne saw things differently in the appeal proceedings and decided that the termination without notice was effective. The plaintiff irretrievably destroyed the relationship of trust through her behavior, i.e. the LAG. Through the unauthorized knowledge and forwarding of the data and the associated violation of personal rights, the woman had begun a serious violation of her contractual obligations. Nor can this be justified by the fact that the plaintiff acted with good intentions. In view of the seriousness of the breach of duty, the parish’s interest in terminating the employment relationship without notice prevailed.
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