Termination without notice due to falsified nursing documentation

The Labour Court Siegburg has decided that a termination without notice can be justified if a nurse intentionally makes false statements in the nursing documentation and enters that she has been in the apartment of a patient although she only had telephone contact with the patient.

The plaintiff had been employed by the defendant for over five years as a geriatric nurse. She was warned several times by the employer, among other things because she had not treated a patient properly and this had also not been properly documented. At the beginning of April 2019, the plaintiff did not go to a patient in person to give her the night tablet, but only telephoned her. Nevertheless, the plaintiff signed off the performance certificate for the nightly visit and confirmed on the day trip certificate that she had taken care of the patient between 22:55 and 23:06. The patient had to be given the night tablet in order to give her the nightly pill. The defendant then terminated the employment relationship with the plaintiff without notice by letter dated 05.04.2019. The plaintiff filed an action for dismissal protection.

The Labour Court Siegburg dismissed the complaint.

In the opinion of the Labour Court, the termination without notice is justified. The deliberate breach by an employee of his obligation to correctly document the working time that has been completed and is difficult for the employer to monitor is in itself suitable to constitute an important reason for termination without notice. The employer must be able to rely on correct documentation of the working time of his employees. If the employer transfers proof of the working time performed to the employees themselves and an employee knowingly and intentionally fills out the forms made available for this purpose incorrectly, this constitutes a serious abuse of trust. The plaintiff had made deliberately wrong entries despite previous warning. The employer-employee relationship thus ends without notice on 05.04.2019.

The decision is not yet final. Against the judgement appeal can be lodged with the Labour Court Cologne.