Mobbing and the law
Unlike Sweden and France, Germany does not yet have an anti-mobbing act. The term "mobbing" does not exist in German legal terminology, nor is there a "mobbing" offence in criminal, labour or civil law.
One of the first rulings concerning mobbing was passed by the Thuringian "Landesarbeitsgericht" (employment appeals tribunal) in 2001:
- Pivotal court decisions concerning mobbing - Ruling passed on 15 February 2001 - Ref.: 5 Sa 102/2000
The ruling gives victims fresh hope. For the first time, judges defined what mobbing is and a bank employee successfully sued his company after having been mobbed by the board of management.
On 1 August 2002, the "Zweite Gesetz zur Änderung schadensrechtlicher Vorschriften" ("Second Act on the Amendment of Legislation concerning Compensation") came into force. The Act stipulates that employers who are aware of mobbing happening in their company must do everything in their power to prevent it. The Act enables employees to claim damages from their employers if the latter did not take sufficient measures to protect their employees sufficiently from such attacks.
Darüber hinaus können sich Betroffene bei Benachteiligungen aus Gründen der Rasse oder wegen der ethnischen Herkunft, des Geschlechts, der Religion oder Weltanschauung, einer Behinderung, des Alters oder der sexuellen Identität nunmehr auch auf das am 18.08.2006 in Kraft getretene Allgemeine Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG) berufen.
