City of Cologne should not have kicked Simone Baum out
## Radical Right Employee Dismissed for Attendance at "Remigration" Meeting, Court Rules Unjustified
When radical right groups spoke about "Remigration" of millions of people last winter, an employee of the city of Cologne was also present. Her employer promptly terminated her employment. However, it has now been determined that the reaction went too far.
The mere participation in the Potsdam meeting on "Remigration" does not justify an extraordinary termination according to a court ruling. The termination of employment against Simone Baum, one of the attendees, by the city of Cologne is invalid, according to a statement by the Labor Court Cologne. An appeal can be filed at the Higher Labor Court Cologne.
Baum, a 64-year-old woman, has been employed by the city of Cologne since the year 2000 and was most recently the central contact person for the complaints department in the Environmental and Consumer Protection Office. On November 25 of the previous year, she attended the meeting in Potsdam, after which the city issued several extraordinary terminations. The city justified this by stating that Baum had violated her loyalty obligation to her employer by participating in the meeting with allegedly extremist participants and discussing remigration plans.
However, the court ruled that the mere participation did not justify an extraordinary termination. From the participation, it could not be inferred that Baum had "found inner agreement with the content of the contributions." No accusations of advocating for unconstitutional goals through verbal contributions were made against her.
The court saw Baum as having a simple, not enhanced, political loyalty obligation. The degree of loyalty and loyalty to the public employer depends on the position and job description of the employee. An employee owes only such a degree of loyalty that is necessary for the proper performance of their duties. This simple loyalty obligation is only violated by behavior that is aimed at actively promoting or realizing unconstitutional goals.
The city of Cologne has not yet decided whether it will appeal the judgment. "As soon as the judgment with the reasons is served, it will be examined, in particular with regard to the prospects of success in a appeal procedure," a spokeswoman said. A settlement between the parties had not been reached beforehand.
Teacher Dismissed for Incitement Against Migrants and Threatening the Constitution
Meanwhile, the case of a civil servant from Rhineland-Palatinate went differently. The former teacher was rightfully dismissed from her position after she publicly incited against migrants and threatened the Constitution, ruled the Administrative Court in Koblenz. The Administrative Court in Trier had previously made the same decision. The civil servant had violated her duty to acknowledge the freely democratic basic order in accordance with the Basic Law.
The civil servant had made statements against migrants at several demonstrations in 2018 and 2019 and through Likes on the internet. For example, she reportedly said at a rally that those who ask critical questions would be locked up in Germany as well. This no longer falls within the realm of polemical, exaggerated criticism of the government's work but puts the Constitution fundamentally at risk, the Administrative Court ruled.
At a demonstration organized by right-wing extremists, as stated by the Constitutional Protection Agency in Berlin, the teacher reportedly spoke out against the current migration policy and called on police officers to disobey orders, which was considered an active engagement against the fundamental democratic order. In another case, she liked an internet post where, among other things, the killing of unwanted groups was described as an opportune means to get rid of them.
The offenses of the teacher, according to the belief of the Administrative Court, are also "an expression of the personality of the civil servant." According to her personal statement in court, there is no doubt that the offenses were driven by inner rejection of the constitutional state. The teacher relentlessly incited, using drastic language, against politicians, the state, its organs, the European Union, its organs, and against migrants.
Despite the International Court of Justice ruling against the far-right group's "Remigration" agenda, the city of Cologne's termination of Simone Baum's employment for attending a related meeting in Potsdam was deemed unjustified by a German Labor Court. On the other hand, a civil servant in Rhineland-Palatinate was rightfully dismissed for her role in inciting against migrants and threatening the Constitution, as determined by the Administrative Court in Koblenz.
