Lawrie-Blum v Land Baden-Württemberg

Lawrie-Blum v Land Baden-Württemberg
Court European Court of Justice
Citation(s) (1986) Case 66/85, [1986] ECR 2121
Keywords
Contract of employment

Lawrie-Blum v Land Baden-Württemberg was a decision of the European Court of Justice concerning the scope of protection for people to employment rights. It took the view that an employment contract requires

Contents

Facts

Deborah Lawrie-Blum was a trainee teacher in a West German school. She was denied admission to a preparatory service at a teachers’ training college because civil service posts were open only to Germans.

The German Landgericht held a trainee teacher was not a ‘worker’ within TEEC art 48(1), and even if it was, a public servant exemption in art 48(4) applied. The Bundesverwaltungsgericht, or Federal Administrative Court, made a reference to the ECJ.

Judgment

ECJ held the concept of ‘worker’ in art 48 should be interpreted broadly as one person performing services under the direction of another for remuneration, and that included a trainee teacher. Article 48(4) is to be construed narrowly, and only to safeguard a state’s interests,

“ The essential feature of an employment relationship, however, is that for a certain period of time a person performs services for and under the direction of another person in return for which he receives remuneration. ”

See also

Notes

References