Facts
[A. AG] and [B.] concluded an employment contract on 6 February 2015, which came into effect on 1 March 2015. The contract provided for a monthly basic salary of gross CHF 13,000.--. On 17 November 2016, the parties agreed on a termination agreement, which ended the employment relationship as of 31 December 2016. According to the December 2016 payroll statement, [A. AG] owed [B.] a net salary of CHF 17,922.15, holiday pay, and education allowances. [A. AG] refused to pay and set off the salary against outstanding claims.
On 28 April 2017, [B.] initiated debt collection proceedings against [A. AG] for CHF 17,922.15 plus 5% interest since 1 January 2017. [A. AG] filed a legal objection on 3 May 2017. [B.] requested the District Court of Kreuzlingen to lift the legal objection and grant provisional debt enforcement, which the District Court rejected on 19 October 2017.
[B.] appealed to the High Court of the Canton of Thurgau, which lifted the legal objection and granted [B.] provisional debt enforcement for the amount of CHF 17,922.15 plus 5% interest since 1 January 2017. [A. AG] filed a complaint in civil matters and a subsidiary constitutional complaint with the Federal Court.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the admissibility of the complaint in civil matters and found that the amount in dispute was not reached and no question of principle was at stake. Therefore, the complaint in civil matters was not admissible, and only the subsidiary constitutional complaint was possible.
The Federal Court reviewed the application of Art. 82 para. 2 DEBA by the High Court and found that the lower court had…