Sick Leave Abuse in Bielefeld | Germany (Case Study)

Mr Lemgo wants to celebrate his wedding – good for him. Unfortunately, his fiancée had suggested a wedding date months earlier, which he agreed to without thinking. Mr Lemgo, who later becomes the target of Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld and East Westphalia, is the chief electrician of his company, and the annual maintenance work – involving certain risks – is scheduled for the wedding weekend. Without him, it cannot be done. So what does Mr Lemgo do? The week before the wedding, he visits a doctor and presents his employer with a sick note. The company owner clearly remembers having to reject Mr Lemgo’s holiday request for that very weekend and the reason given – the wedding date. He therefore suspects a feigned illness and hires our detectives in Bielefeld to observe the absent employee.

Civil wedding and celebration in Bad Salzuflen – the supposedly ill employee is always present

On the wedding day, two detective teams begin surveillance at the target’s home and at the registry office, as it is unclear where Mr Lemgo will be at the start. Before 11 a.m., the wedding party arrives with the target from an unknown direction, and the Bielefeld private investigators remaining at the residence conclude their task. For reasons of discretion and inconspicuousness, the detectives do not attend the ceremony but cover the two main exits to document Mr Lemgo as he leaves. This succeeds easily, thanks to the conspicuous entourage of guests.

After the civil wedding, our detectives follow the party to a country estate in Bad Salzuflen where the festivities take place. A photography studio takes pictures of the couple and guests in the garden. Unfortunately, access control prevents our investigators from entering the celebration to document further activities that would contradict Mr Lemgo’s alleged illness, such as energetic dancing or alcohol consumption.

On the Way to Gran Canaria – Detectives on the Plane

By around 4 p.m., the celebration appears to end. The target of Kurtz Detective Agency Bielefeld and East Westphalialeaves with his new wife in a festively decorated vintage Mercedes, driving via the A2 towards the Ruhr area, then the A33 towards Paderborn, and finally to Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport. There, the couple checks in two suitcases with Air Berlin. Through a covert interview, our commercial detectives learn that the flight is bound for Las Palmas on Gran Canaria. The operations centre of Kurtz Investigations East Westphalia consults the client, who approves following Mr Lemgo to Gran Canaria. Our investigators book two last-minute seats at moderate prices and are on the same flight less than two hours later.

Observation by Our Private Detectives on Gran Canaria

After arriving on Gran Canaria, Mr and Mrs Lemgo are transferred to a hotel. Our Bielefeld detectives have no time to rent a car and must follow the shuttle bus by taxi, booking a hotel room at exorbitant rates in the same building. For three days, the detectives remain on Gran Canaria to obtain final evidence of Mr Lemgo’s feigned illness. During this time, the newlyweds visit several attractions, such as a cave village in the Barranco de Guayadeque, the archaeological museum "Mundo Aborigen", hike in Bandama Nature Park, and look fit and active while swimming, playing badminton, and enjoying other leisure activities. By this point, any genuine illness can be ruled out. Considering the costs of investigation and the proportionality of resources used, our investigators return to Paderborn-Lippstadt on the third day.

After receiving the investigation report from our detectives on Gran Canaria and from the celebration in Bad Salzuflen, the client dismisses Mr Lemgo without notice. Upon returning from Gran Canaria, the subject of the Kurtz Private Detective Agency Bielefeld receives an unpleasant and unexpected "wedding gift": immediate termination.

Note

To protect the discretion and privacy of clients and subjects, all names and locations in this case study have been altered beyond recognition.