Baden-Württemberg Court Dismisses Former Mayor's Gender Pay Discrimination Lawsuit

The Baden-Württemberg Higher Administrative Court in Mannheim dismissed a gender pay discrimination lawsuit brought by Janette Fuchs, the former nonpartisan mayor of the Black Forest spa town of Todtmoos, who had argued she was paid less than both her male predecessor and her male successor. The court's 4th Senate rejected Fuchs's claims for damages and compensation under the General Equal Treatment Act. The 59-year-old, who served as mayor of Todtmoos from 2014 to 2022 and is now retired, had previously won at the first instance. The ruling overturns a decision by the Freiburg Administrative Court, which had ordered the municipality to pay Fuchs more than 36,500 euros in damages and an additional 7,000 euros in compensation. The Senate has allowed an appeal to the Federal Administrative Court, and Fuchs's lawyer Jörg Düsselberg confirmed she intends to pursue that route.

Court found predecessor comparison legally difficult after 24 years During the hearing, the judges at the VGH themselves suggested a settlement between the parties, citing risks on both sides, but no agreement was reached. The court pointed to a central evidentiary problem: comparing Fuchs's pay to that of a predecessor who had taken office 24 years before her was substantively difficult. Municipal council minutes were cited as providing at least partial justification for the lower salary grade assigned to Fuchs, even if those reasons were not considered comprehensive. The damages awarded by the Freiburg Administrative Court related to the difference between salary grades A 14 and A 15 for slightly more than half of Fuchs's eight-year term in office, according to her lawyer Düsselberg. The court acknowledged that a comparison with Fuchs's successor might be legally difficult, while also noting there were already indications of unequal treatment in that comparison. A full written explanation of the ruling will only be issued at a later date, according to the court.

Fuchs equal pay case — court outcomes: Damages awarded (before: 36,500+ euros (Freiburg Administrative Court), after: Dismissed (VGH Mannheim)); Compensation under AGG (before: 7,000 euros (Freiburg Administrative Court), after: Dismissed (VGH Mannheim)); Further appeal (before: Not applicable at first instance, after: Allowed to Federal Administrative Court)

Municipality of 2,000 residents denied any gender bias The municipality of Todtmoos, a health resort in the southern Black Forest with approximately 2,000 inhabitants, had appealed the first-instance ruling and maintained throughout the proceedings that there was no indication of discrimination against Fuchs on the basis of her gender. Its lawyer André Friedl argued the lawsuit should be dismissed entirely. The municipality's position was that the lower salary grade assigned to Fuchs had legitimate administrative justifications, a view the VGH ultimately accepted, at least in part. Fuchs, for her part, had consistently maintained that the pay disparity reflected gender-based discrimination and that the council minutes cited by the municipality did not constitute a sufficient explanation. The case drew attention as a rare instance of a sitting — and later former — local official pursuing an equal pay claim through the administrative courts against her own municipality.

Federal appeal looms as written ruling still pending Equal pay litigation in German public administration has historically been rare, particularly at the level of elected local officials such as mayors. The AGG, which came into force in 2006, transposed several European Union anti-discrimination directives into German law and extended protections to public sector employment relationships. Todtmoos is a small municipality in the Waldshut district of Baden-Württemberg, situated in the southern Black Forest at an altitude of over 700 metres, and holds the designation of a health resort. Fuchs and her lawyer had already signaled before the verdict that they would appeal to the Federal Administrative Court if the VGH ruled against them. The case reference assigned by the VGH is 4 S 1145/25. The Federal Administrative Court, which sits in Leipzig, would hear the case on questions of federal law, including the interpretation and application of the AGG to elected local officials. The opposing side offered no immediate comment following the ruling, according to reports. Because the written reasoning has not yet been issued, the precise legal grounds on which the VGH overturned the Freiburg court's decision remain to be fully detailed. The outcome of any Federal Administrative Court appeal could carry significance for how equal pay protections apply to elected officeholders in German municipalities more broadly.