Because she did not get an adequate childcare place for her son, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court awarded a mother 23,000 euros in damages. The affected southern Hessian district had violated its official duties, the court ruled.
The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court awarded a woman 23,000 euros in damages because no reasonable childcare place was made available for her toddler. Although the mother announced her need in good time, the district in the Darmstadt district court did not provide her with adequate space for her son in time, the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court (OLG) justified its judgment on Monday. Children from the age of one have a legal right to a childcare place.
OLG: The district must actively provide day-care centers
The district has thus violated its official duty to unconditionally guarantee a childcare place, justified the OLG. While the Darmstadt Regional Court had granted the mother a good 18,000 euros, the Higher Regional Court has now awarded her further compensation for the loss of earnings she suffered: a total of a good 23,000 euros. The decision is not yet final. A court spokeswoman did not say which district in southern Hesse it is.
A daycare place must correspond to the specific, individual needs of the child and his parents in terms of time and space, according to the decision of the OLG. It is not enough if the circle refers to the fact that there were vacancies. Instead, the court should have actively mediated.
Circle pulls before the Federal Court of Justice
An assigned childcare place in Offenbach was not reasonable in view of the spatial distance. The travel time from the place of residence would have already been 30 minutes without taking into account the considerable traffic load on this route in the usual drop-off and pick-up times;
The court finally announced that the needs of the parents should also be taken into account in the reasonableness test. The district filed a non-admission complaint and now wants to take it to the Federal Court of Justice.
End of further information