Berlin Labor Court hears case of Thoughtworks firing employee over anti-war stance

An IT company fires a Berlin employee and works council member – because he opposes cooperation with the US military.

Publication date: 2026-07-30 11:09

Too political? Mohamed Abbas fights against his dismissal at an IT company. Photo: Jens Gyarmaty

By Jonas Wahmkow

On a Wednesday afternoon in mid-June, Mohamed Abbas sits in a small hearing room of the Berlin Labor Court. Abbas is in a dispute with his employer, the US IT consulting firm Thoughtworks. The company has terminated him.

The reason given by the company for the termination: Abbas is too political. With his criticism of cooperation with the US military, he disrupted workplace peace; since his calls for solidarity with Palestine, Jewish colleagues no longer feel safe in the company. At least, that is how his employer's lawyers see it.

For Abbas's lawyer, however, it is a classic case of union-busting – the prevention of union organizing. Thoughtworks is a global company with over 10,000 employees that develops and implements software for other companies and organizations. It prides itself on social responsibility and moral awareness. But business is bad. The economy is weakening, customer orders are falling away, and the IT consulting industry is under pressure from the AI revolution to reinvent itself. Pressure that management passes on to employees.

"In principle, Abbas is one of the most active works council members. That may also be a reason why he is being treated this way now," his lawyer says during the hearing. Three ongoing proceedings are dealing with his dismissal. Today, the court is hearing an urgent motion by Abbas to get his employer to continue paying him until a decision is made on the termination. At the court hearing, Abbas appears calm. The man in his mid-thirties wears a leather jacket and a red-and-white keffiyeh. Underneath, a shirt with the inscription "Tech Workers Unite."

Shared list of US war crimes in company chat

The visitor seats are almost completely filled with supporters and colleagues of Abbas. The windows in the hearing room are closed, the air quickly becomes stuffy. "This is not works council busting, as reported by the press," says Thoughtworks' lawyer. The extraordinary termination is the result of a long-standing misconduct by Abbas, the lawyers explain; trust has been irreparably damaged, further cooperation is unthinkable.

The lawyers outline the specific allegations, which they have already sent to the judge in a 32-page brief, once again in a quick run-through. Abbas is said to have posted two Wikipedia links in the global company chat in early April:

• An incomplete list of US military war crimes
• An article about the torture scandal in the Iraqi US prison Abu Ghraib in 2004

Abbas commented on the links with "The Veterans."

The occasion for his comment was a cooperation between his employer and the US Department of Defense. Thoughtworks developed an online platform to improve medication supply for war veterans. Abbas, however, fundamentally rejects cooperation with the US military.

The Thoughtworks lawyers accuse Abbas of generally associating colleagues with a "veteran background" with "war crimes," thus creating an "intimidating and hostile work environment." In the past, Abbas is said to have repeatedly stood out negatively for pro-Palestinian and anti-American political statements. "I am not surprised by this garbage heap of a country and its ruling class," Abbas reportedly posted in the global company chat in January 2025 in response to the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Reading the brief, one gets the impression that Abbas is a troublemaker and activist who is too polemical and too loud and expresses his opinion in the wrong place. Someone who disrupts workplace peace and whom the company therefore wants to get rid of.