Forfeiture of employee objection in business transfer by undue delay

The Federal Labour Court dismissed the plaintiff’s revision, thereby upholding the lower court’s judgment in which the defendant prevailed, and ordered the plaintiff to bear the revision costs. The dispute concerned a business transfer and the effectiveness of the employee’s objection (Widerspruch) under German labour law, specifically whether the objection had become barred by forfeiture (Verwirkung) before the formal objection was lodged. The decisive legal issue centered on the doctrine of Verwirkung within the context of the Betriebsänderung (business restructuring) process, determining that the plaintiff’s right to object was forfeited due to undue delay in asserting the objection, thus preventing the employee from blocking the transfer of employment relationships to the new employer.