Brussels, 29/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - Individuals who apply for a job or a work placement for the sole purpose of being able to claim compensation by taking advantage of the rules applicable in the field of employment and work can be accused of abusing a law, according to the Court of Justice of the EU.
The judgment returned by the Court (case C-423/15) on Thursday 28 July concerns a student in Germany who applied for a work placement with a company, stating that he met all the criteria. The company rejected his application as it was looking for people who had already held a law degree for a minimum of one year. The person in question claimed damages of €14,000 for discrimination on the grounds of age.
Even though the formal conditions for reference, in such situations, to Directive 2000/78/EC on equal treatment in employment and occupation are in place, the “objective” of this legislation has not been met, according to the Court. The reason is that the protection afforded by this legislation cannot be used to obtain an undue advantage. The student in question may therefore not rely upon this directive, as he was manifestly not looking to get the job, meaning that his application can be considered “artificial”. (Original in French by Jan Kordys)