The Federal Labor Court (BAG) has brought forward two questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ): First, whether a rejected applicant must be compensated for discriminatory treatment based on European Union law, although he never intended to be employed in a permanent position. And second, whether such proceedings is an abuse of rights under Union Law (BAG, ECJ template dated June 18, 2015 – 8 AZR 848/13 (A)).
The BAG had to deal with the complaint of an unsuccessful candidate who was clearly not qualified for the advertised position. The company had advertised positions for a trainee pro-gram and requested a “very good university degree, which dates back no longer than one year”. The plaintiff (born in 1973, degree 2002) pointed out in his application his many years of management experience as a former senior executive. The company rejected the application. The applicant then requested compensation for age discrimination under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG). The company subsequently invited him for an interview, which the applicant rejected by pointing out that one could talk about his future after payment of compensation was made. After the plaintiff learned that the trainee positions had been occu-pied by women, he asked for additional compensation due to discrimination on the grounds of gender. This is the typical strategy called AGG-Hopping. Read on…