Suspected termination of a vocational training contract is possible. BAG 12.02.2015 - 6 AZR 845/13

If there is a strong suspicion of a serious breach of duty by the trainee, the trainee may be given notice of termination for good cause in accordance with Section 22 Para. 2 No. 1 BBiG, provided that it is objectively unreasonable for the trainee to continue the training relationship. In particular, the special features of the training relationship must be taken into account when considering the question of unreasonableness.

The plaintiff began vocational training as a bank clerk with the defendant on August 1, 2010. From June 20, 2011, he was given the task of counting the money in the night deposit boxes of a branch. After a cash shortage of ¤ 500 was discovered, a staff interview was sought with the plaintiff. Here, according to the defendant, he was confronted with the existence of a shortfall, but the exact amount of the shortfall was not mentioned. After the plaintiff mentioned the exact amount of 500 euros during the interview on his own initiative, the defendant terminated the vocational training contract on suspicion of theft of 500 euros. He based his suspicion on the fact that only the perpetrator could have known the exact amount missing. The plaintiff considers the termination to be invalid. He argues that, on the one hand, a vocational training contract cannot be terminated merely on suspicion and, on the other hand, there was no proper hearing. He had not been informed in advance that the interview would be about a difference in cash, nor had he been informed of the possibility of contacting a person of trust. Finally, he accuses the defendant of breaching its obligations under the Federal Data Protection Act.

After the lower courts had already dismissed the claim, the appeal before the Federal Labor Court was also unsuccessful. The Federal Labour Court pointed out that the regional court had assessed the circumstances of the case in a manner that could not be objected to on appeal and had rightly considered the hearing of the plaintiff to be free of errors. The urgent suspicion of a serious breach of duty by the trainee qualifies as an important reason in accordance with § 22 Para. 2 No. 1 BBiG if the continuation of the vocational training relationship is objectively unreasonable for the training provider, taking into account its special features. The theft of the money, taking into account his vocational training as a bank clerk, justified the termination in accordance with § 22 Para. 2 No. 1 BBiG. There was also no need to inform the plaintiff in advance about the subject of the conversation or about the possibility of contacting a person of trust. Furthermore, there were also no data protection objections to the collection and use of evidence.

Date: 12. Feb 2015