In a decision last month the European Court of Justice (ECJ) effectively closed the door to a bogus job applicant whose motivation had been to claim compensation for discrimination.
The case (Kratzer v R+V Algemeine Versicherung AG) was brought by a lawyer and former manager who applied for a graduate legal trainee position with AV. He appeared to meet the requirements but AV rejected his application and Mr Kratzer then demanded compensation of €14,000 for age discrimination. AV said the rejection had been automatically generated in error and asked him to attend an interview, however, Mr Kratzer declined and suggested that his future with AV could only be discussed once he had been compensated for the alleged discrimination.
Mr Kratzer brought a claim in the local labour court for age discrimination, which was rejected. When his case reached Germany’s Federal Labour Court they referred it to the ECJ who ruled that applicants who are not genuinely seeking the role they’re applying for are not entitled to protection from discrimination. As Mr Kratzer was not “seeking employment” he could not be a victim of discrimination and had not sustained any loss or damage.
This case does provide some comfort for employers who may be worried about discrimination claims arising from sham job applications. However, employers should still take steps to ensure that all applicants are protected from discrimination as it may not always be so easy to judge whether or not the individual in question is genuinely interested in the role.