Operational termination validity: evidentiary standards for social unreasonableness and operational necessity in corporate restructuring

The Federal Labor Court dismissed the employee’s revision, upholding the lower court’s judgment and leaving the defendant to bear the costs of the appeal. The case involved a dispute over the validity of a termination based on operational reasons (*betriebsbedingte Kündigung*), specifically challenging the assessment of operational necessity and the proportionality of the measure within the context of corporate restructuring. The court’s decision rests on the application of German labor law provisions governing operational terminations (Section 1 of the Protection against Dismissal Act), confirming that the employer met the requisite evidentiary standards and that the individual dismissal was not socially unreasonable compared to other available options.