Discrimination because of motherhood

I represent several clients at the Frankfurt am Main Labour Court who have been discriminated against by their employers because of their motherhood.

Discrimination due to maternity is a sub-case of discrimination due to gender and, if the other requirements are met, leads to a claim for compensation in accordance with Section 15 Paragraph 2 AGG.

I would like to present two of my current cases here:

In one case, a DAX company had offered to my client’s husband (both are represented by me) a termination agreement with severance pay, but not to the wife. Both have worked for this employer for around 20 years and have carried out almost the same tasks and received a very similar salary. Both asked for a termination agreement. In both cases there was no termination and the employer did not want to give notice. The termination agreements were only concluded at the request of the couple. However, there was no reason to make the husband an offer of a termination agreement with severance payment at his request, which he accepted and received approximately half a year’s salary as severance payment, but refused to do so to the wife, even though she had also asked for a termination agreement. The employer also concluded a termination agreement with the wife, but without any compensation for the loss of her job. She received no severance pay at all. The employer argued in the conciliation hearing at the labour court that he wanted to separate from the husband, but not from the wife. This clearly did not convince the court. A verdict is pending.

The fact that the employer also concluded a termination agreement with his wife proves that he wanted to separate from her. The only difference between husband and wife was that the wife had taken parental leave (at the end of which she left via a termination agreement) and the husband had not taken any parental leave. But that cannot justify paying the husband a severance payment and not to the wife. We sued for damages and compensation for discrimination and, in total, for payment of approximately one year’s salary. I will report as soon as the verdict is issued.

In the second case, I represent a client who did not get the part-time job she wanted after her parental leave ended, even though she had a legal right to it, and the employer only wanted to implement her part-time request if the employee signed a new employment contract with a new so-called probationary period (waiting period according to § 1 KSchG).

In my opinion, this is clear discrimination because of motherhood.

In this case, we sued for three gross monthly salaries as the minimum compensation and, of course, continued employment.

I will report as soon as the verdict is available.