Validity of contractual exclusion clause waiving pension benefits upon subsequent employment with a competing enterprise under the Unfair Contract Terms Act

The Federal Labour Court dismissed the employee's revision appeal, thereby upholding the lower court's decision in his favour and ordering him to bear the costs of the revision proceedings. The dispute concerned the validity of a contractual agreement to a "golden parachute" pension scheme, specifically whether an exclusion clause in the pension benefits agreement that waived the employee's claims upon his subsequent employment with a competing enterprise was permissible under German labour law. The court held that such a clause was void as it constituted an unreasonable disadvantage to the employee in violation of § 307 German Civil Code, and therefore the employee was entitled to full pension benefits despite his subsequent competition, a conclusion affirmed by the final judgment.