A man in the German state of Hesse was summarily fired after his employer discovered he had attended a book reading by Martin Sellner, the prominent figurehead of the Austrian Identitarian Movement, in July last year.
The dismissal sparked a legal challenge that was heard by an employment tribunal in Gießen earlier this week, which Apollo News reports ended with a settlement that includes the continuation of the man’s employment.
The controversy centers on a reading held on July 29, 2024, in Gladenbach, Hesse, where Sellner presented his book “Remigration: A Proposal.” Originally scheduled to take place in Marburg, the event was relocated at short notice due to mounting protests from Antifa activists.
Roughly 50 people attended the reading itself, which required police protection. Among them was the employee who would later be dismissed. Once his attendance became known at his workplace, he was terminated without notice — a measure that German labor law typically reserves for severe misconduct.
Though the company involved has not been officially named, it is believed to relate to disability assistance. The employer reportedly justified the dismissal by claiming that the employee’s presence at the event had disrupted workplace harmony and brought the company into disrepute.
The Gießen Labour Court confirmed to German media that an initial conciliation hearing was held on Oct. 24, 2024, but no agreement was reached. A second oral hearing took place on June 10, at which point the parties agreed to a settlement. According to the court, this agreement includes provisions for the employee to return to his job should he wish to do so.
Remigration is an increasingly popular term adopted by those who advocate for a reversal of the mass immigration experienced by Europe over the past two decades, and the phrase is often met with hostility by the authorities.
Last month, several activists, including Sellner, spoke at a “Remigration Summit” in northern Italy, prompting a number of German Identitarian Movement (IB) members to fly from Germany despite the German federal police issuing them with travel bans to try and prevent their attendance.
Upon their return, officers were waiting at Munich Airport to place them in handcuffs. They now face a year in prison simply for leaving the country to attend a conference.
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