In Bavaria, not a single corona infection has been recognized by police officers as an accident at work. As the responsible Ministry of Finance announced in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior as the employer in response to a request from SPD MP Stefan Schuster, there have been 79 applications for such “official accident recognition” since the beginning of the pandemic (as of mid-June). 65 applications from police officers had been rejected, and in ten cases no illness could be determined on the basis of symptoms; nine have been withdrawn, five are in progress. To the knowledge of the state government, six lawsuits are pending. So far, more than 2000 people in the ranks of the Bavarian police have tested positive for the virus.
The regional associations of the police unions DPolG and GdP had advised members in the case of infections, especially with more serious courses, to have a work accident diagnosed – not because of the acute care, which is already regulated; but because of long-term damage that might not be noticeable now. Too little, so the reasoning, is known about possible late effects and “long covid”: If a work accident is not documented as such, but a civil servant does get problems later or even early retirement is due, then it is about adequate care. According to media reports, there is movement on the subject in other federal states. According to this, Berlin has recognized a third of the applications from police officers. In Lower Saxony, the state and the union have concluded a model lawsuit agreement.
SPD interior expert Schuster considers the handling of the recognition as an occupational accident in Bavaria to be “unspeakable”. This is “really an indictment of the exceptional performance of our police force in the pandemic. Our police officers get infected while on duty and are then left in the lurch”. During the Corona crisis, the Free State “spent so much money on nonsensical things, and of all things he is stingy with the police”. The example of other countries shows that things can be different.
At the State Office for Finances it was already said in the spring at the request of the SZ: According to the Civil Service Welfare Act, potential accidents at work are “very precisely and intensively checked”, it also concerns “causal relationships”. There must be “a special causal connection” between infection, business activity and illness – for example, if someone can be proven to spit on an official. Conceivable infections, for example at the police station, during courses or sports units, such as can be found in the pending lawsuits as a reason for an accident at work, on the other hand, belonged to the “general danger for everyone” in a pandemic situation. Judges will have to decide on this. According to the Ministry of Finance, a date for the oral hearing has not yet been set in any proceedings.