German Teacher Collected Full Salary for 17 Years Without Teaching a Single Class
Published on 07/26/2026 at 16:03 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A 62-year-old civil servant teacher from Duisburg is fighting her forced retirement in court after spending nearly two decades on paid sick leave while earning top-tier government wages.
The case has exposed major weaknesses in how Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia school administration monitors long-term absenteeism among public employees.
From Classroom to Courtroom
The teacher received her full salary for approximately 17 years without performing any duties. Through automatic step increases within salary grade A13, her monthly gross pay climbed to 6,174.04 euros, and would have reached 6,381.49 euros starting August.
The Düsseldorf district government ordered her compulsory retirement at the end of May 2026. She filed a lawsuit on June 29 at the Düsseldorf Administrative Court. Since June, her payments have been reduced to a pension instead of full salary.
Parallel Criminal Investigation
The Duisburg public prosecutor’s office is investigating the teacher on suspicion of commercial fraud. Authorities believe she may have worked as a naturopath during her sick leave. Investigators searched her apartment in March 2026.
Additional details have emerged about the teacher’s business activities. In 2012, she and a business partner won a regional startup prize for developing a skin cream.
NRW Education Minister Dorothee Feller described the situation as “inexcusable.”
Administrative Failures Under Scrutiny
Disciplinary proceedings target not just the teacher but also employees at the district government. The accusation: supervisory officials failed for years to request official medical assessments to verify her fitness for duty.
Legal experts point to similar cases that highlight procedural pitfalls. In April 2024, the Kassel Administrative Court overturned the forced retirement of a severely disabled teacher (case number 1 K 409/22.KS). Judges ruled the medical assessments were too superficial and that the failure to involve the disabled employee representation constituted a procedural error.
If the Duisburg teacher wins her case, the government could be forced to repay the difference between her pension and full salary.
New Rules on the Way
The disciplinary case against the teacher is suspended until the criminal investigation concludes.
In response to the scandal, the NRW school ministry announced plans to overhaul monitoring procedures for long-term sick civil servants. A new guideline aims to speed up official medical examinations. Going forward, assessments can take place outside an employee’s home city to bypass bottlenecks at local health authorities.
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