Actor wins against Deutsches Theater Göttingen – Kultur

On Wednesday, the Federal Labor Court in Erfurt rejected the appeal by the Deutsches Theater in Göttingen, thereby agreeing with an actor who had sued against the non-extension. The court confirmed this to the SZ. Actor Nikolaus Kühn’s contract was not extended in 2018. The collective agreement NV Bühne stipulates that a formal discussion must be held with the directorate for non-extensions, in which the reasons are explained. This did not happen in the formal conversation between Kühn and artistic director Erich Sidler. Instead, Sidler referred to previous conversations with the sentence: “The theater’s perspective is presented.”

From Kühn’s point of view, the reasons for the non-extension were not formally stated, he complained. The Stage Arbitration Court in Frankfurt, the Labor Court in Cologne and the State Labor Court in Cologne had already ruled in his favour, and the German Theater in Göttingen had appealed. A repetition of the reasons in a formal conversation was “formula” and they also wanted to avoid the actor feeling humiliated in front of colleagues present, according to the theater’s lawyer.

The cooperative sees the judgment as a protection for the actors

The Federal Labor Court in Erfurt is now rejecting the appeal of the Deutsches Theater in Göttingen and is therefore right in favor of Kühn. The reasons for non-extension must be expressed or repeated in the hearing provided for this purpose. The German Theater Association (GDBA) accepted the verdict with relief. Chairwoman Lisa Jopt says: “If the court had decided differently, that would have meant that as an artistically engaged person you always have to assume that the conversation between the elevator and the red wine glass could be interpreted retrospectively as a conversation about reasons for not extending it.” This risk has now been averted.

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