Disciplinary authority

8000 euro fine for sexist chief inspector

An instructor from Upper Austria is said to have put his foot in his mouth at the security academy.

(Bild: Kerschbaummayr Werner)

He thought his stupid remarks were funny, but he was alone in this. A chief inspector from Upper Austria, who works as a trainer at a police security academy, has to pay a fine of 8,000 euros because he made sexist remarks. Will the expensive fine be enough to make him watch his loose tongue in future?

His very "pithy" banter annoyed too many people. A chief inspector from Upper Austria, who teaches at an executive security academy, had already received three warnings in 2021. On January 30 of the previous year, he also received a written instruction from his boss "such statements, which are absolutely inappropriate, are to be strictly and absolutely refrained from!" But the instructor - as first reported by "Heute" - did not let such instructions stop him.

Disparaging remarks about homosexuals
On 17 May, he allegedly said to course participants during the debriefing of a "modular skills training course", which was about assault between a homosexual couple: "There is no danger from faggots" or "Being gay is just a disease, although you're not allowed to say that these days."

An instructor from Upper Austria is said to have put his foot in his mouth at the security academy.

(Bild: Kerschbaummayr Werner)

"Funny" anecdote
At another meeting on August 11, the chief inspector is said to have told the "funny" anecdote that coffee was deliberately spilled at the table at one office "just to watch a colleague clean". According to witnesses, this was clearly sexual in nature or derogatory.

Sexual harassment

§ Section 8 (1) Discrimination on the grounds of gender also exists if the employee, in connection with his or her employment or training relationship
1. is sexually harassed by the employer's representative,
2. is discriminated against by the employer's representative by culpably failing to take appropriate remedial action in the event of sexual harassment by a third party, or
3. is sexually harassed by a third party.

(2)Sexual harassment shall be deemed to have taken place if the conduct is related to the sexual sphere, impairs the dignity of a person or is intended to do so, is undesirable, inappropriate, degrading, insulting or offensive to the person concerned and
1. creates or is intended to create an intimidating, hostile or humiliating working environment for the person concerned; or
2. in which the fact that the person concerned rejects or tolerates conduct relating to the sexual sphere on the part of a representative of the employer or a colleague is expressly or tacitly made the basis of a decision affecting that person's access to training, employment, continued employment, promotion or remuneration or the basis of another decision on the employment or training relationship.
(3) An instruction to sexually harass a person also constitutes discrimination.

Plus 500 euros in legal costs
The apparently behaviorally creative trainer had to answer to the federal disciplinary authority for his verbal outbursts. He pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty of multiple breaches of official duty and had to pay a fine of 8,000 euros. An additional 500 euros in procedural costs round off the fine. The officer was also acquitted of making derogatory comments about women and their figures and harassing a female aspirant.

The Ministry of the Interior says:
"Individual cases in the disciplinary area are never part of external police communication. In principle, however, this case once again shows very clearly that the Ministry of the Interior takes suspicions of disciplinary misconduct very seriously and can also lead to severe penalties. In general, however, such a case is an absolute exception in the Ministry of the Interior."