A new ruling by the Munich Labor Court has caused a stir. The plaintiff, a long-time department head at the Bavarian Supply Chamber, successfully sued against two terminations without notice that were given to him in July 2025. These terminations were based on the accusation that he had violated compliance rules by not disclosing personal connections to the employer’s business partners and accepting improper benefits.
Interestingly, the court did not decide on the substance of these allegations, but rather found that the two-week deadline for the notice of termination was not met. According to the German Civil Code (§ 626 Para. 2 BGB), terminations without notice for good cause must be given within two weeks of becoming aware of the reasons in order to be effective. Since the defendant did not meet this deadline, the lawsuit was decided in favor of the plaintiff. Whether there was an important reason for the termination no longer mattered.
The Bavarian Supply Chamber had hired an external lawyer to investigate the allegations against the plaintiff. These investigations lasted several months. However, the plaintiff had already been confronted with the allegations in April 2025, while the terminations were only given in July. The court’s decision is not yet legally binding.
Termination ineffective: Companies often terminate prematurely
Isabel Hexel, specialist lawyer for labor law and partner at the Oppenhoff law firm, told our editorial team in an interview on Internal Investigations: “I very often experience that companies either terminate too hastily, which makes the termination ineffective, or the compliance departments want to investigate in full without taking into account the fact that they lose the option of extraordinary termination.” The case described in Bavaria sounds like the latter.
In such cases, employers often issue dismissals on suspicion. The termination on suspicion must be a serious breach of duty, but it is sufficient initially that there is a high probability that the accusation is true, says Hexel. However, two conditions make it difficult for employers to use dismissal on suspicion: it must also take place within two weeks, and the accused must be heard beforehand.
Info
ArbG Munich, judgment of March 10, 2026, Ref. 13 Ca 9892/25
As head of the online service, Gesine Wagner oversees the digital channels of human resources management and, as an editor, is primarily responsible for the topics of labor law, politics and regulation. She continues to be the contact person for everything that has to do with HR start-ups. She is also responsible for the CHRO Panel.
