Overview
- The Bundesarbeitsgericht in Erfurt ruled on Thursday that the Diakonie did not unlawfully discriminate by requiring church membership for a 2012 referent post and rejected Vera Egenberger’s claim for compensation.
- This decision follows a long path through the courts that includes a 2018 European Court of Justice judgment, a 2018 BAG award to the plaintiff, and a 2025 Bundesverfassungsgericht order that sent the case back for a more detailed review of church interests.
- The court applied the Constitutional Court’s instruction that churches must be given substantial weight on internal self‑determination but that any membership requirement must be plausibly linked to the concrete duties of the post.
- Diakonie welcomed the judgment and noted it had already widened its hiring rules, while the plaintiff says her lawsuit has prompted internal church changes even without a favorable award.
- The ruling will be watched as a test for future church‑employment disputes and could influence ongoing parliamentary work on Germany’s General Equal Treatment Act and how employers justify religion‑based hiring criteria.