Overview
- The court in Mannheim rejected Janette Fuchs’s claim for damages and compensation under Germany’s anti-discrimination law, with written reasons to follow.
- Judges had urged a settlement during the hearing, citing legal risk in comparing her pay with a predecessor from 24 years earlier and with a successor under different circumstances, and Fuchs declined on principle.
- A lower court in Freiburg had earlier awarded more than €36,500 in damages and €7,000 in compensation, calculated from the gap between pay grades A14 and A15 for part of her 2014–2022 term.
- In Baden-Württemberg, a town council sets a mayor’s pay grade using objective, job-based factors, and the state Interior Ministry says personal traits such as gender must not influence the decision.
- The panel allowed a further appeal to the Federal Administrative Court, and Fuchs had signaled she would likely continue the case as other AGG suits, including one in Müllheim, have won damages.