The dispute about gender-appropriate language at Audi goes to the next instance. The car manufacturer, which belongs to the Volkswagen Group, requires its employees to use specific gender forms in written communication. A Volkswagen process manager sued against this, but was defeated by the Ingolstadt district court and has now appealed the verdict. The plaintiff sees his general personal rights violated by work instructions with formulations such as “The BSM expert is a qualified specialist”. The district court of Ingolstadt did not agree. The VW employee does not have to actively follow the gender guidelines at Audi, and merely being passively affected is not enough. The presiding judge had declared that he had no right “to be left alone”. Audi sees the language requirements as a sign of equality and an expression of gender diversity.
Audi – gender language lawsuit goes to the OLG – economy
