Court confirms discrimination: Non-renewal notice ineffective

Press Release

City and theater of Naumburg must pay damages to actor due to discrimination

Hamburg/Naumburg, June 30, 2025 - At its hearing on Monday, June 23, 2025, the Chemnitz Stage Arbitration Court ruled that the non-renewal notice to the actor Antonio Gerolamo Fancellu is invalid. The city must also pay damages in the amount of €5,000. The reason is a discriminatory justification in the context of a non-renewal notification of an employment contract.

The contracts of artistic employees at the theaters are fixed-term and are automatically extended unless they are not renewed, usually for artistic reasons. The director of Theater Naumburg, Stefan Neugebauer, justified the non-renewal on the grounds of actor Fancellu's "southern origin", among other things. The court found that this justification was discriminatory and in breach of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and ruled that the non-renewal notice was invalid. At the same time, the actor's claim for damages was confirmed in full.

The ruling was preceded by further labor law disputes. For example, Antonio Gerolamo Fancellu was dismissed without notice in autumn 2022 after he had campaigned internally and publicly for better working conditions at Theater Naumburg. This dismissal is also the subject of legal proceedings. The theater has already lost in two instances and the next hearing is expected to take place in autumn 2025.

Antonio Gerolamo Fancellu says: "If I also win the other case, which looks very likely, the city of Naumburg will have to pay over €100,000. And all because of a wounded white man's pride."

When the employers' side was asked at the hearing what was meant by "southern", the answer was: "Everything south of Naumburg". For Andreas Hammer, regional chairman of GDBA Ost, who was also called as a witness in court, this quote is unbearable: "I hope that the city and the theater will now come to the realization that they have made some mistakes in the past and will not continue to appeal and concede to Antonio Gerolamo Fancellu that he is in the right."

After the theater lost in two instances, Fancellu's contract was not extended a second time as a precautionary measure on the discriminatory grounds. As the artistic contracts at the theaters are permanent, there is little protection for the employees, especially as the works and staff councils do not have to be involved.

Non-renewals for artistic reasons cannot be legally reviewed, and since one person often decides alone, theater management can get rid of disagreeable employees relatively easily.

The case of Antonio Gerolamo Fancellu in particular shows that in the case of non-renewals, the question always arises as to whether this is not abusive behavior. For this reason, the stage trade union GDBA, as the artists' trade union, is calling for a fundamental reform of the non-renewal clauses in the NV Bühne collective agreement.

You can find the press release as a PDF here.