Apprenticeship: dismissal possible for refusal to wear a mask

If a teacher refuses to wear a face mask at work, they can be dismissed without notice. This was decided by the Berlin-Brandenburg Regional Labor Court in a ruling on October 7, 2021.

Facts and judgment

In the specific case, the judges of the Regional Labor Court deemed the extraordinary dismissal of a teacher from Brandenburg to be effective and dismissed an action for unfair dismissal brought by the teacher. Two main reasons were cited for the legal dismissal: Firstly, the teacher had persistently refused to wear a face mask at school over a period of time. The judges did not consider a certificate from a doctor in Austria, obtained from the internet, to be sufficient to exempt the teacher from the obligation to wear a mask.

The second main reason for dismissal was an email correspondence between the teacher and the school parents„ representative. In a correspondence, the teacher made a general assessment of the mask requirement and spoke of “child abuse„ and “deliberate bodily harm", among other things. In the message, the teacher also demanded that parents take action against the school using a pre-formulated letter. Following a warning and an official request to refrain from the previous behavior, the teacher maintained and justified the statements made in a new email to the parents' association and in other places.

The Regional Labor Court did not allow an appeal to the Federal Labor Court.