44 No. 69 JUSTICE Introduction In November 2021, the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported for the first time that, according to its own research, employees of the Arabic editorial department of the German broadcasting producer Deutsche Welle had taken openly antisemitic or anti-Israeli positions.1 In response, Deutsche Welle terminated the employment of the five staff members concerned and launched an external investigation.2 In February 2022, the German ex-Federal Minister of Justice, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and the psychologist, Ahmad Mansour, determined following their external audit that it was a matter of individual misconduct. Evidence of structural antisemitism in the Arabic editorial staff had not been established by the external investigation team. In addition to the five “separation proceedings,” Deutsche Welle is investigating eleven other suspected cases. Besides eight cases of suspected antisemitism on the part of employees that had arisen from the external audit, three further cases were discovered in the course of Deutsche Welles's own investigations. One of these three, Farah Maraqa, a PalestinianJordanian freelancer at Deutsche Welle since 2017, is no longer a journalist at Deutsche Welle.3 Maraqa stood out because she had already made several anti-Israeli statements in journalistic contributions in the past. In the Arabic-language online newspaper Rai Alyoum, Maraqa had already compared Israel to a “cancer” that had to be “cut out” in 2014. In 2015, she wrote that she would join the terrorist group IS if it “kicked the Israelis out of the Holy Land.”4 Deutsche Welle attempted to end its relationship with Maraqa without notice, in a letter dated February 11, 2022. She then filed an unlawful dismissal action against her employer. The 5th Chamber of the Bonn Labor Court has ruled on this matter. II. Judgment of the Bonn Labor Court In its judgment of July 6, 2022, file reference 5 Ca 322/22, the Bonn Labor Court upheld the action for protection against dismissal. Accordingly, the court ruled that the termination of Maraqa’s contract with Deutsche Welle was invalid. The court found that the contractual relationship between the parties was not an employment relationship, but a service relationship, with Maraqa conducting self-employed, freelance activity. Farah Maraqa was employed by Deutsche Welle on the basis of a fee framework agreement, as a video producer and editor for the internet and social media channels. The parties’ contractual relationship was limited until December 31, 2023. This “fee contract” would then end on December 31, 2023. Deutsche Welle based the termination, among other things, on posts Maraqa published while engaged as a freelancer for them, on her private Facebook page, as well as on other social media platforms in Arabic, which, in the opinion of Deutsche Welle, were considered anti-Israel and antisemitic, and questioned Israel's right to exist. As a result of Farah Maraqa's statements, the reputation of Deutsche Welle had been permanently damaged. However, the court only ruled that the distinction between an employment relationship and a freelance relationship of a program-making employee was a caseby-case decision. Furthermore, the court held that the extent of the burden of presentation and proof in connection with the observance of the two-week notice period under the Farah Maraqa Case I. Steffen Kaemper 1. “Deutscher Auslandssender: Ein Sender schaut weg” (Dec. 28, 2022, 9:35 AM), available at https://www.sueddeutsche. de/medien/deutsche-welle-antisemitismus-israel1.5476895?reduced=true 2. “Antisemitismusvorwürfe: Noch viel zu tun bei der Deutschen Welle” (Dec. 28, 2022, 9:35 AM), available at https://www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/deutsche-welleantisemitismus-untersuchung-1.5490747 3. “Deutsche Welle entlässt mehrere Israel-Hasser“ (Feb. 7, 2022, 5:52 PM), available at https://www.bild.de/politik/ inland/politik-inland/antisemitismus-skandal-deutschewelle-entlaesst-mehrere-israel-hasser-79073042.bild.html 4. “Antisemitismusvorwürfe-Deutsche Welle beschäftigte israelfeindliche Journalistin” (Dec. 28, 2022, 9:35 AM), available at https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/deutschewelle-beschaeftigte-israelfeindliche-journalistin-a-80832531479a-4441-a903-5d6030a5dc8f
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