No Compensation For The Anti-Discrimination Plaintiff

In a court proceeding concerning a compensation claim raised under Section 15 (2) of the German General Equal Treatment Act (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz – AGG) by a rejected applicant, the Hamm Regional Labour Court ruled in favour of the employer.

Background

It is not uncommon for both courts and employers to be faced with the phenomenon of so-called "AGG hopping." This describes individuals who submit applications to various employers with the purpose of being rejected and afterwards claim compensation for discrimination, e.g., due to age or gender under the AGG. This law provides for a compensation claim for rejected applicants of up to three monthly salaries for the position they applied for. Furthermore, if the job posting is not fully AGG-compliant, e.g., not gender-neutral, this already indicates discrimination. It is then on the employer to prove a non-discriminatory selection process.