The case has been ongoing for years and was previously brought to court in 2024 and 2025. During an unannounced performance review in 2020, the employee was told that the department board had serious concerns about his performance. The man, who has worked at the university for many years, did not recognize the allegations.

Subsequently, TU/e ​​took measures. For example, the associate professor was no longer assigned to undergraduate courses and was only allowed to supervise a limited number of PhD students.

In his attempts to challenge the accusations and measures, the employee also sought help from the ombudsperson because he felt socially unsafe within the organization. "At some point, the department board decided that the ombudsperson could no longer be involved in the negotiations with the employee regarding rehabilitation and compensation. After that, attempts to reach a resolution with the employee failed," according to the report on the Judiciary's website.

Appeal

The TU/e ​​wanted to terminate the employment contract and initiated proceedings in the subdistrict court. The District Court of Oost-Brabant ruled that the employee had not sufficiently cooperated in resolving the conflict and terminated the employment contract. The employee did not leave it at that and appealed. Successfully: the Court of Appeal in 's-Hertogenbosch now states that there were no reasonable grounds to terminate the employment contract.

The court judges state that the TU/e ​​took unjustified employment law measures against the employee. Only after a considerable time did the TU/e ​​acknowledge that these measures were incorrect. The entire course of events led to an unsafe working environment.

The university did later offer compensation. However, the way in which she attempted to reach an agreement only increased the unsafe working relationship for the employee, the judges stated in their ruling.

The university's actions significantly strained the relationship, but not to the point that the man would no longer be entitled to his job. "The court finds that the occurrence, continuation, and worsening of the unsafe situation for the employee is attributable to the employer and should not be 'rewarded' with termination of the employment contract," the court wrote.

The court reinstated the employment contract between the employee and TU/e, effective May 1, 2025. TU/e ​​must give the employee the opportunity to resume his work within fourteen days.

*This article was translated with AI and reviewed by an editor