An AfD party membership can be grounds for rejection when applying for a job at a public authority. In this specific case, however, the selection decision must be repeated due to a procedural error, the Erfurt Labour Court has now ruled (Ref.: 3 Ca 2030/24, judgement of 20.02.2025).

The applicant had applied for a job as a clerk at the Thuringian State Administration Office. After an initially positive response, he was nevertheless refused employment with reference to his party membership. The Labour Court assumed in principle that the State Administration Office was entitled to have doubts about his loyalty to the constitution and thus his suitability for public service in accordance with Article 33(2) of the Basic Law due to his membership and activity for the AfD in the district council. The basis for this is the assessment from the constitution protection report of the Free State of Thuringia, according to which the Thuringia state association of the AfD is to be regarded as a „proven right-wing extremist endeavour against the free democratic basic order“. However, as the court is of the opinion that the applicant should have been given the opportunity to comment on the doubts regarding his loyalty to the constitution, the selection decision must be repeated.

This decision, which is not yet legally binding, shows that employers can base doubts about the suitability of applicants on membership of a secured right-wing extremist party or a mandate for this party within the scope of their discretionary powers of judgement. However, such circumstances must then be clarified promptly and introduced into the application procedure. According to the case law of the Federal Labour Court, applicants must be given the opportunity to make a statement during the application process in order to dispel any doubts about their suitability. Authorities should therefore react in good time if there are any indications of a lack of loyalty to the constitution in order to ensure a legally secure procedure. The sources that employers can use for this (questions or statements in the application procedure or internet searches) must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the guidelines of the labour courts and data protection regulations.