A Swiss teacher mistakenly receives 39,000 euros in salary after his resignation and claims not to be able to make them

The teacher of Dübendorf, near Zurich, has multiplied legal appeals to avoid regularization. But the judges ended up proving him wrong and demand the reimbursement of the undue sums.

Twenty months’ salary without having worked. In Dübendorf, near Zurich (Switzerland), a teacher hit the equivalent of 36,883 Swiss francs (about 39,000 euros) when she had resigned, revealed the Zurich OberländerAugust 14.

The primary school teacher had left her job as a German teacher in August 2020 but continued to receive her salary of 1,472.60 Swiss francs every month for more than a year and a half. The school has noticed the error when the teacher asked for a certificate from his former employer. The city then claimed the reimbursement of the overpayment. But the teacher has multiplied legal remedies to contest the regularization.

She ended up ending up before the Federal Court, the highest court in the country, to plead her good faith: she would not have realized that she was touching these wages each month. According to her, the city was aware of its resignation and should therefore have noticed the error. The teacher also explains that she spent this amount to buy a car and that she cannot reimburse.

A defense that has not convinced the judges. They note that she notably declared the undue sums to taxes and that she received many pay slips by post. The teacher must therefore reimburse the equivalent of just over 32,000 euros to which are added around 2,000 euros in legal costs.