A German driver who loses the license for driving with 1.6 per mille of alcohol or more cannot simply apply again after the ban. The Driving License Regulation requires a medizinisch-psychologische Untersuchung, a medical and psychological examination. Germans call it the MPU, or the Idiotentest, the idiot test. It includes a medical check, reaction tests and an interview with a psychologist. According to the legal publisher Haufe, the psychologist expects konkrete Anhaltspunkte für eine daraus resultierende Verhaltensänderung, concrete signs of a change in behavior. In March 2021 the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the authority may order the test even below 1.6 per mille. This applies when there are signs of an unusually high tolerance for alcohol, such as driving with 1.1 per mille or more without visible impairment.
Lost the Trust for Good
German disciplinary law for federal civil servants names trust as one of its measures. Section 13 of the Federal Disciplinary Act says that account should be taken of how far the civil servant has damaged das Vertrauen des Dienstherrn oder der Allgemeinheit, the trust of the employer or of the public. The most severe step depends on one condition. A civil servant who, through a serious breach of duty, das Vertrauen des Dienstherrn oder der Allgemeinheit endgültig verloren hat, who has lost that trust for good, is removed from service.
How Long a Conviction Counts
A German employer often asks an applicant for a Führungszeugnis, a certificate of conduct from the Federal Central Register. A conviction does not stay on it forever. The Federal Central Register Act sets fixed periods. For a fine, or for a prison sentence of up to three months, the period is three years. For most longer sentences it is five years, and for serious sexual offenses it is ten. Some small first convictions do not appear on the certificate at all. These are fines of up to 90 daily rates and prison sentences of up to three months. Once the period has passed, the law says: Verurteilte dürfen sich als unbestraft bezeichnen. Convicted persons may call themselves unpunished. Since 1 May 2010 there has also been an erweitertes Führungszeugnis, an extended certificate, for people who work with minors. It also lists smaller convictions for certain offenses relevant to the protection of children and young people.
Dismissal on Suspicion
German labor law allows an employer to dismiss an employee because of a suspicion alone. This is the Verdachtskündigung, the dismissal on suspicion. The employer does not have to prove the offense. The Federal Labor Court accepts that the suspicion of serious misconduct can by itself destroy the trust needed to continue the job. The conditions are strict. The suspicion must be dringend, urgent. Before the dismissal, the employer must hear the employee and give him a chance to answer. In a ruling of 25 April 2018, the court said that the employee must be able to see which facts the employer wants to clear up. If his innocence is shown later, he may have a right to be hired again.
The Tour Off the Air
In 1997 Jan Ullrich won the Tour de France. He is still the only German to have done so. In 2003 his duel with Lance Armstrong drew more than nine million viewers on ARD. Then the doping cases came. On 18 July 2007 a positive test of the German rider Patrik Sinkewitz became known. That same day ARD and ZDF stopped their live coverage of the Tour. ZDF’s editor-in-chief Nikolaus Brender said: Wir wollen einen sauberen Sport. We want a clean sport. After 2011 both public broadcasters dropped the race altogether. ARD only announced its return in January 2015. In November 2023 Ullrich admitted it outright for the first time: Ich habe gedopt. I doped.
The A400M
The German armed forces ordered 53 A400M transport aircraft from Airbus. The first one arrived in December 2014, years late. In January 2015 the Airbus chief executive, Tom Enders, apologized in public: Wir haben nicht die Leistung abgeliefert, die wir uns gewünscht haben, und ich muss mich dafür entschuldigen. We did not deliver the performance we wanted, and I must apologize for it. In June 2016 Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the armed forces had einen sehr handfesten Vertrag, a very solid contract, in which compensation was clearly set out. Wir werden auch diese Schadenersatzansprüche geltend machen. We will claim this compensation.
135 Minutes
In 2008 an administrative employee with 17 years of service recorded arrival times that did not match when she actually arrived. Over seven working days in a row, the difference added up to about 135 minutes. Her employer dismissed her without notice. In 2011 the Federal Labor Court upheld the dismissal, even without a prior warning. The court wrote: Der Arbeitgeber muss auf eine korrekte Dokumentation der Arbeitszeit … vertrauen können. The employer must be able to rely on correct records of working time.
Trust Capital
A supermarket cashier, known in the media as Emmely, was dismissed without notice because she had redeemed deposit vouchers worth 1.30 euros that did not belong to her. She had worked for the company since April 1977. On 10 June 2010 the Federal Labor Court ruled on her case. A deliberate breach can justify dismissal without notice even when the damage is small. But the court also weighed the Vertrauenskapital, the trust capital, that she had built up in more than three decades of service without problems. The dismissal was invalid, and a written warning would have been enough.
Trust Comes on Foot
Vertrauen kommt zu Fuß und geht zu Pferd. — Trust comes on foot and leaves on horseback.
der Vertrauensvorschuss — an advance of trust, given before it has been earned
Vertrauen verspielen — to gamble trust away
Wer einmal lügt, dem glaubt man nicht, und wenn er auch die Wahrheit spricht. — Whoever lies once is not believed, even when he tells the truth.
The Team Doctor Who Resigned
Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt was the team doctor of FC Bayern Munich for almost four decades. In April 2015 Bayern lost the first leg of a Champions League quarter-final 1–3 in Porto. Afterwards the medical department was blamed as mainly responsible for the defeat. Müller-Wohlfahrt and his colleagues resigned, saying the relationship of trust had been lastingly damaged. He later recalled the accusation that he was to blame for the defeat. “Das ist doch absurd!” That is absurd. “Das konnte ich nicht akzeptieren.” I could not accept that. He returned to the club later and left for good in 2020.