Von Colson v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
| Von Colson v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen | |
|---|---|
| Court | European Court of Justice |
| Citation(s) | (1984) Case 14/83, [1984] ECR 1891 |
| Keywords | |
| Employee | |
Von Colson v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (1984) Case 14/83 is an EU law case, concerning the conflict of law between a national legal system and European Union law.
Facts
Ms Von Colson was refused a job as a prison worker because she was a woman. The Equal Treatment Directive 76/207/EC required member states to give effect to principle of equal treatment. It obliged them to provide a legal remedy. Ms Von Colson claimed she had a directly effective right to demand the court order the employer to appoint her. She was awarded only ‘reliance loss’ as a remedy, including costs of travelling to the interview, but not compensation or appointment to the post.
Judgment
The ECJ held that Ms Von Colson could not demand that the employer appoint her. The member states could fulfill their obligations to provide a remedy in several ways, including either specific performance or claiming damages. Either one would provide an effective remedy to comply with the obligation. This discretion prevented the obligation being directly effective.
| “ | 23. Although... full implementation of the directive does not require any specific form of sanction for unlawful discrimination, it does entail that that sanction be such as to guarantee real and effective judicial protection.
26. ... national courts are required to interpret their national law in the light of the wording and the purpose of the Directive in order to achieve the result referred to in the third paragraph of Article 189. 28. ... if a Member State chooses to penalize breaches of that prohibition by the award of compensation, then in order to ensure that it is effective and that it has a deterrent effect, that compensation must in any event be adequate in relation to the damage sustained and must therefore amount to more than purely nominal compensation such as, for example, the reimbursement only of the expenses incurred in connection with the application. It is for the national court to interpret and apply the legislation adopted for the implementation of the directive in conformity with the requirements of Community law, in so far as it is given discretion to do so under national law. |
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