A German employment court ruled that the automobile giant Volkswagen would have to reinstate an employee they fired in 2016 for allegedly recruiting people to fight for the Islamic State (ISIS) and threatening coworkers. The employee was also connected to ISIS fighters, according to police.
The Hanover State Employment Court ruled that Samir B., a German-Algerian tire fitter who worked for Volkswagen for 8 years, was unlawfully fired. The court ordered that Volkswagen reinstate Samir B. in one month’s time.
Two of Samir B.’s known associates had travelled to Syria in 2014 to join ISIS and were later killed fighting for the Islamist terror group. In December 2014, the employee was stopped at Hanover Airport before boarding a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, carrying €9,350 and a drone.
Authorities were convinced Samir B. had been planning to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS, and they confiscated his passport, Britain’s Daily Mail reported.
Samir B. also reportedly threatened colleagues, telling them they would “all die.”
Volkswagen’s lawyers and the administrative Court of Braunschweig argued that it was proven Samir B. “was involved in the recruitment and support of Islamic fighters from Wolfsburg.”
Even so, the Hanover judge ruled that the employee’s firing was illegal. Volkswagen had been unable to state that the “operational peace” of the plant had been “specifically disturbed,” the Express reported.
The car manufacturer had offered a €65,000 settlement to Samir B., but his lawyer refused, the German paper Bild reported.
Volkswagen has announced it would appeal the ruling to a higher court.
Volkswagen had 3 percent of the U.S. automobile market share in 2012, but that number dropped to 2 percent last year. The company aims to reach 5 percent of U.S. market share in the next ten years.
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