28.8.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 234/13

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 8 July 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Landesarbeitsgericht Hamburg (Germany)) — Susanne Bulicke v Deutsche Büro Service GmbH

(Case C-246/09) (1)

(Directive 2000/78/EC - Articles 8 and 9 - National procedure for the enforcement of obligations under the Directive - Period within which a claim must be lodged - Principles of equivalence and effectiveness - Principle of non-reduction of an earlier level of protection)

2010/C 234/19

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landesarbeitsgericht Hamburg

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Susanne Bulicke

Defendant: Deutsche Büro Service GmbH

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Landesarbeitsgericht Hamburg — Interpretation of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16) and of general principles of Community law — Prohibition of discrimination on the basis of the age at the time of hiring — National legislation laying down a time-limit of two months from receipt of the rejection of the job application, or knowledge of the discrimination, within which to bring an action seeking damages and/or compensation

Operative part of the judgment

1.

The primary law of the European Union and Article 9 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation must be interpreted as not precluding a national procedural rule under which a victim of discrimination in recruitment on grounds of age must make a claim against the perpetrator of that discrimination within two months in order to obtain compensation for pecuniary or non-pecuniary damage, provided:

—

firstly, that that time-limit is not less favourable than that applicable to similar domestic actions in employment law,

—

secondly, that the fixing of the point from which that time-limit starts to run does not render practically impossible or excessively difficult the exercise of rights conferred by the Directive.

It is for the national court to ascertain whether those two conditions are met.

2.

Article 8 of the Directive must be interpreted as not precluding a national procedural rule, adopted in order to implement the Directive, which has the effect of amending earlier legislation which provided for a time-limit for claiming compensation for discrimination on grounds of sex.

(1)  OJ C 244, 10.10.2009.