After the gender‑rights ruling involving a staff member of the Federal Office for Maritime and Hydrography (BSH), the federal government defended the use of “gender‑neutral language”. Deputy chancellor spokesman Steffen Meyer said on Friday, when asked by the dts news agency, that its use in official language is “self‑evidently” appropriate and has not only been adopted in the current legislative period.
Meyer explained that the government draws a clear line between “gender‑neutral language” and gendered forms that use asterisks or colon separators. While the former allows double‑designation such as “colleagues, men and women”, the chancellor’s office and most ministries do not permit special characters inside words. This policy is also consistent with recommendations from the German Orthographic Council.
The federal Ministry of Transport, which oversees the matter, pointed out that the case of the termination carried out by the BSH was allegedly “not about gendering”. One spokesperson added that it would not comment on the labour‑court proceedings.
In the concrete case, the BSH’s radiation‑protection officer was dismissed after she refused to use consistent gender‑neutral language in an official document – the radiation‑protection instruction. According to her, this meant either employing gender‑neutral phrasing or naming both sexes. Instead, she used, for example, the term “Strahlenschutzbeauftragten”, that is, her own position, in the generic masculine. The BSH warned her twice and then issued a summary dismissal.
The regional labour court (LAG) dismissed the case in line with the lower court’s decision. It was not found that an employer‑imposed rule about gendering was unlawful. Rather, the court held that gender‑neutral language was not part of the employee’s job responsibilities. The ruling affirmed that such directives are permissible and must be obeyed.
