Gender at Audi: Group adheres to company guidelines in process

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Spelling intended to address multiple genders: Here using a gender asterisk

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Sebastian Gollnow / dpa

Dear readers,

do you feel offended by this salutation?

A VW employee should answer this question with yes.

Because the subsidiary Audi changed documents, he complained that his personal rights had been infringed upon.

After Audi failed to submit a requested cease and desist declaration, the man went to court.

In the process before the Ingolstadt district court, the plaintiff quoted work instructions that contained cumbersome formulations such as: »The BSM expert is a qualified specialist«.

The previous "Audians" have become "Audians" in the documents.

The presiding judge, Christoph Hellerbrand, proposed an amicable agreement to write to the plaintiff in conventional language in the future.

However, the Audi lawyers rejected this as impractical and unmanageable.

According to the "Donaukurier", the company's legal representatives argued that otherwise a list would have to be made of who wanted to be addressed and how.

The court deals only with individual cases

Audi introduced the guidelines in March 2021 and stated that the company wanted to “make gender-sensitive formulations ubiquitous in internal and external written Audi communication from now on”.

Gender-sensitive formulations are necessary in all internal and external letters from the company.

This was done using neutral formulations (“manager” instead of “boss”) or the so-called gender gap, which connects male and female forms with an underscore.

Audi spokesman Wolfgang Schmid said: "The use of gender-sensitive language means communication that values ​​and takes into account all genders and gender identities."

However, the plaintiff is bothered by the fact that he is addressed by Audi colleagues using different terms.

According to his lawyers, he demands that the company refrain from mandating the use of the communication rules.

The lawyers believe that language should not be specified in such concrete terms.

They also regard the procedure as a model process that has an impact beyond Audi.

Judge Hellerbrand emphasized, however, that only the specific individual case will be heard in court.

In the direction of the employee, he said: "It's about you, about your personal concern through these gender guidelines."

Protection of male gender identity

The lawsuit is supported by the German Language Association, which generally rejects gender and speaks of an "ideology".

Other language maintenance organizations see a need for gendering, but appeal to compliance with grammatical rules.

The Society for the German Language sees double naming (»pupils«) as positive, but the gender gap, as at Audi, as problematic.

According to the "Bild" newspaper, the plaintiff justified his actions with the protection of his gender identity.

Finally, in some of the variants specified by Audi, such as »doctor« or »lawyer«, the masculine stem of the word (»doctor« or »lawyer«) is missing.

To dispense with the masculine designation in the course of gendering could not be more »gender-equitable«.

Plaintiff's attorney Dirk Giesen said his client was clearly in favor of equality and against discrimination.

But Audi should no longer send him e-mails, e-mail attachments and instructions using this gender language.

The judge summed up the injunctive relief as follows: "The gender gap has to go."

A verdict is expected at the end of June.

File number: 83 O 1394/21

apr/dpa