The Berlin Labor Court, after an oral hearing on Thursday, dismissed the lawsuit filed by a non-binary person against the services company Deutsche Vergabenetzwerk GmbH (DVNW). The case, brought under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), concerned discrimination and misgendering in a job application process. The court found that the plaintiff had not seriously applied for the position. However, there was no ruling on whether the defendant company’s conduct violated the AGG.
February Application
The background: The plaintiff Nick applied in February for a position as “Procurement Law and Public Procurement Advisor.” In the application, Nick listed the gender entry as “divers” and asked to be addressed as a non-binary person. The company subsequently sent a rejection letter by email and addressed the person as “Mr. T.” In response, Nick reportedly demanded €5,000 from the company for discrimination, otherwise threatening to take the matter to court. The company refused, and Nick sued under the AGG for €17,500 in damages. It was also criticized that the job advertisement was purely binary, i.e., it did not directly address diverse people with a tag like m/w/d.
According to the court, however, the application had not been made in good faith, for example because Nick lacked the required expertise, was enrolled at two universities at the time of the application, and immediately after the rejection demanded compensation. The ruling is not yet final; the plaintiff may still appeal to the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Regional Court.
Nick Plans to Appeal
“That the court rejected the lawsuit is disappointing,” Nick responded to the decision. “Of course I applied seriously for the position. It is important that we now go to appeal and fight to ensure that the rights of trans*, inter*, and non-binary people in the job market are protected by a higher-court ruling.”
René Rain Hornstein of the TIN Legal Aid, who supported the plaintiff, called the ruling “regrettable.” “Job advertisements should be worded in a way that also addresses non-binary people. It is unacceptable that a company misgenders the applicant in the rejection. That is why it is important to proceed to the next instance.”
