Many employers and recruitment agencies have been resentful of the claimant who applies for a job that he has no desire to obtain but believes may be a quick way of earning money if he can show that he has been discriminated against. In Nils-Johannes Kratzer v R+V Allgemeine Versicherung AG C-423-15, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that such a person did not fall within the definition of ‘job seeker’ within the directive and could not bring a claim. The court concluded that the Framework Directive 2000/78 applies to a person seeking employment and that the claimant was not really seeking to obtain the post. It concluded that a contrary interpretation would be incompatible with the aim of those directives, which is to ensure equal treatment ‘in employment and occupation’ to all persons by offering them effective protection against forms of discrimination, in particular ‘access to employment’. The claimant would not be a victim within the meaning of the Directive.

Susan Belgrave, 7 Bedford Row