A German teacher who has been on sick leave since 2009, while receiving a full salary, has sued her employer after being asked to undergo a medical examination to confirm her condition.

An unnamed teacher from Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia has sued her employer after it began to challenge her unusually long absence from the workplace and asked her to undergo a medical examination. The teacher had been on sick leave for 16 years, during which time she did not attend her duties at a vocational college in Wesel but continued to collect her full salary. Under German law, teachers are classed as ‘beamte’ or public servants and enjoy certain privileges, including taking a full salary while on indefinite sick leave. Only in this particular case, the woman’s employer recently asked for proof of her condition and requested she take a medical test.