A German labour court has dismissed a discrimination compensation claim brought by a nonbinary applicant, ruling the application was never genuinely intended to secure employment.
The Labor Court of Berlin issued its ruling on May 28, 2026, rejecting the claim filed under Germany’s General Equal Treatment Act, known as the AGG, under reference number 42 Ca 3438/26.
The claimant, whose registered gender marker is “diverse,” had applied for a position as a “Consultant for Procurement Law and Public Procurement” with an unnamed employer.
During the application process, the claimant requested to be addressed in a gender-neutral way, a reasonable and legally recognised request under German equality law.
The employer rejected the application by email in February 2026 and addressed the claimant as “Mr,” which the claimant cited as a key indication of discriminatory treatment.
The claimant also pointed to the binary wording of the original job posting as a second alleged indication of discrimination, forming the basis of the AGG compensation claim.
The Berlin court declined to rule on whether discrimination had actually occurred, instead dismissing the claim on the narrower ground that the application itself was abusive.
The court identified several factors weighing against the conclusion that the claimant had a genuine interest in the role, including a lack of expertise in procurement law, which was a stated requirement of the position.
Additional circumstances cited by the court included the close timing between the rejection and the pursuit of the compensation claim, as well as the claimant’s simultaneous enrolment at two universities.
On balance, the court found that the indicators against genuine employment interest outweighed any indicators in favour, treating the application as a vehicle designed primarily to generate a compensation claim.
The ruling drew a clear legal line, finding that a systematic assertion of claims aimed only at compensation can constitute an abuse of rights and fail on that basis alone.
The claimant retains the right to appeal to the Regional Labor Court, known as the Landesarbeitsgericht, Berlin-Brandenburg, and has already announced plans to do so according to media reports.
The decision does not weaken broader discrimination protections, and the court confirmed that protection for nonbinary persons and other affected applicants remains fully intact.
Legal analysts note the ruling carries practical lessons for employers, who may want to draft job postings in gender-sensitive terms and include markers such as “(m/f/d)” or “(m/f/x)” to reduce discrimination risk.
Employers are also advised to ensure that rejection correspondence correctly reflects each applicant’s stated gender identity, as an incorrect salutation could still form part of a legitimate discrimination claim in future cases.