Termination for plagiarism also possible without warning and hearing

If a professor is found guilty of plagiarism, dismissal for conduct-related reasons is permissible even without a prior warning and hearing. This was recently decided by the Bonn Labor Court, which had to rule on the dismissal of a professor for conduct-related reasons due to plagiarism in her publications (judgment of 24.04.24, ref.: 2 Ca 345/23). The court based its decision on a significant breach of employment law obligations. It was irrelevant that the publications were aimed at a lay audience and that the number of citation errors was at a low level. The ruling is not yet legally binding.

A political scientist was hired as a professor at a university in 2021. Two years later, the shock: the university dismissed the political scientist for plagiarism in her publications without prior warning or a hearing. The woman in question took legal action against her dismissal at the labor court, but the employer won the case.

Professor: Publications were aimed at interested laypeople

The university had justified the dismissal on the grounds that a total of three of the professor's publications (one of which was submitted to the university during the application process) contained plagiarism in several places and the work therefore did not meet current academic standards. The political scientist had taken text passages from other authors without citing them as sources. The employee defended herself against the dismissal. Although the political scientist did not deny the plagiarism in principle, she explained that it was so-called popular science literature, which was aimed at a lay audience rather than academics. Accordingly, the focus was not on scientific accuracy, but on understanding and entertainment. In addition, the citation errors were few in number and the dismissal was disproportionate, according to the professor. Finally, she had not been heard about the allegations and a warning was possible as a milder measure.

Court: Material breach of obligations under labor law

The labor court in Bonn did not follow the employee's arguments and ruled in favor of the employer. The competent judges based their decision on a significant breach of employment law obligations on the part of the political scientist. The professor should at least have complied with the principles of good scientific work in the publication that she had submitted in the application process. After all, this work was a central component of the application. The judges also stated that in an application process for a position in science, the publication automatically contains the declaration that the scientific standards were adhered to. However, the employee had deliberately failed to do so in her work. A warning was not sufficient as a sanction in the event of a serious breach of duty in the employee's core area.

Termination for conduct-related reasons: These are the requirements

The judgment from Bonn is not yet legally binding and an appeal is possible. Nevertheless, a number of requirements for dismissal for conduct-related reasons can be derived from this case. This is justified if

1. there has been a significant breach of contractual obligations, for example unexcused absence from work,
2. an infringement is committed unlawfully and culpably,
3. there is no milder remedy for the misconduct (e.g. warning),
4. the balance of interests is in favor of the employer.

In practice, there are many different reasons for dismissal for misconduct. Among other things, unexcused absence from work can be a reason, as can insults and physical attacks on colleagues as well as criminal offenses of any kind. In many cases, however, a warning must be issued before dismissal.