Facts
X. had been working as a mother counseling nurse for the association Y. since 1979. On March 2, 1993, the association terminated the employment relationship effective June 30, 1993. The reason given for the termination was that X. had difficulty following the guidelines for the activity and accepting the employer's right to issue instructions. X. objected to the termination, as she could not make sense of the reason given. On November 23 and 26, 1993, respectively, X. filed a lawsuit with the labor court for payment of compensation due to abusive termination. The labor court and the Canton Court of St. Gallen dismissed the claim. The appeal of the plaintiff, which was rejected by the Federal Supreme Court, is the subject of this judgment.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court states that a termination is generally effective regardless of whether the employer fulfills its obligation to provide reasons under Art. 335 para. 2 OR or not. The obligation to provide reasons primarily serves to enable the terminated person to review the termination for abusiveness. A violation of this obligation merely leads to indirect sanctions in the proceedings, such as in the context of the assessment of evidence and the regulation of costs and compensation consequences.
The Federal Supreme Court further states that the plaintiff cannot prevail solely with the allegation of the untruth of the reasons given by the defendant for the termination. Rather, she would have had to specify the actual and abusive reason for the termination. Since the law does not provide for a legal presumption of abusiveness in the event of a…