Overview

• North Rhine-Westphalia’s higher administrative court on August 12 upheld an April 2025 directive requiring an Amtsarzt examination to assess the teacher’s ability to work.
• The teacher has been on certified sick leave since 2009 and is reported to have continued receiving full salary throughout that period.
• Judges rejected her claim that a psychological evaluation would infringe personality rights, citing the employer’s responsibility to ensure only fit civil servants serve.
• The court criticized years of administrative inaction as not comprehensible but ruled it irrelevant to the legality of the fitness-for-duty order.
• The Düsseldorf regional authority says it is comprehensively reviewing the case, public debate has broadened to civil-service oversight during a teacher shortage, and unverified tabloid claims about side work and property ownership remain unconfirmed.