It is shortly after the beginning of the corona pandemic, working life is shifting to the home office. Because most employees are not equipped to work from home, many of them take office chairs, monitors and the like home from their workplace. So did a former legal adviser to Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne. That is why the Archdiocese of Cologne had given notice to the woman. She took legal action against the dismissal.
The Cologne labor court has now expressed doubts about the legality of the woman’s dismissal because of the office chair she took with her. The court has “significant concerns” in this regard, Judge Hans-Stephan Decker said in another hearing in the case on Tuesday. Of course, a worker can’t just take office chairs or other work equipment home, Decker said. But in the specific case, which happened relatively shortly after the outbreak of the corona pandemic, one had to take into account that there were situations in which more work should be done at home. However, the judge found that hardly any home office was set up properly at the time.
The former legal adviser to the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainer Maria Woelki, is suing in the proceedings against the termination of her employment. In addition, the labor court is dealing with a retirement order due to disability. At this point, it is questionable whether a report from January 2021 was sufficient for this step.
In a hearing last year, the lawyer for the archdiocese said that the office chair was an “object of considerable value” – that it was “illegal” to take it with you. “There is not a single office chair that could be taken home in Corona times,” he explained. In addition, the legal adviser called in sick shortly afterwards. The lawyer for the lawyer had stated that his client suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. For years she had to work through the files on cases of child sexual abuse by priests in the archdiocese.
It is also about dealing with cases of abuse
In addition to the lawsuit against the end of her employment, the woman is also demanding at least 50,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering. With a view to the demanded compensation for pain and suffering, however, the court had several inquiries to the lawyer of the ex-justiciar. The claim is based, among other things, on insufficient training for the plaintiff in processing the abuse cases, said Judge Decker. “Has she ever tried, in interviews, to get training approved?” he asked. “I assume so, without wanting to lean too far out of the window now,” said her lawyer. But basically it is about the employer’s duty of care, he argued. “The employee does not have to demand that he gets a sure-footed ladder.” The judge replied that the woman was not a painter or varnisher, but the head of the legal department. “The higher a position is, the more initiative, self-responsibility you expect,” he said.
The woman herself was not in the room at the appointment. The court initially withdrew to further deliberations. It was initially unclear whether a verdict could be pronounced on Tuesday. A conciliation date had brought no rapprochement between the parties.