Luxembourg, 21/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - In the Lommers case on the rights of fathers working in the Dutch civil service, the Court of Justice to place their children in a workplace creche.
The Court says lone fathers have to be treated the same way as lone mothers and therefore have a right to place their children in the workplace creche without this having to be an emergency situation. Non-lone fathers will still have their requests for creche places rejected on the grounds of positive discrimination for married women.
Mr H. Lommers' wife was pregnant and he requested a place in the Agriculture Ministry's creche for the child, which was refused since men can only place their children in the creche in what the employer considers to be an emergency situation. Mr Lommers unsuccessfully challenged the rule on the grounds of equal opportunities.
Dutch regulation introduced the rule in the first place as positive discrimination to try to counter the under-representation of women in the ranks of the civil service.