The Feryn Case - Belgian court follows the ECJ's interpretation

9 September 2009

The judgment in the Feryn case issued by the Labour Court of Brussels (Belgium) represents an important development for the work of equality bodies and the fight of discrimination with regards to access to the labour market.

On 28 August 2009 the Labor Court of Brussels (Belgium) issued a judgment in the case of the Belgian Center for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism v. the Feryn Firm (ECJ C-54/07). The court upheld the arguments presented by the Belgian EQUINET member and ruled that discriminatory statements made publicly violate the prohibition of direct discrimination in respect of recruitment.

The case started when the well known Belgian sectional garage doors firm Feryn publicly declared that it would not recruit employees of a certain ethnic or racial origin and therefore dissuaded certain candidates from submitting their candidature.

As mediation failed, the case was presented before tribunal in 2006. The Labor Court of Brussels referred to European Court of Justice (ECJ) with a number of very precise questions relating to the Directive 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin.

On 10 July 2008 the ECJ established that a firm stating publicly that it will not recruit employees of a certain ethnic or racial origin is making a breach in the principle of equal treatment in the access of labour market and therefore discriminating.

The same argument was reiterated by the Labor Court, which then ordered the abolition of Feryn’s discriminatory criteria for selecting staff and the publication of the judgment in four widely circulated Belgian newspapers.

The judgment of the Belgian Labor Court represents an important milestone in the fight for the promotion of equality as it reaffirms the role of employers in the opposition to discrimination and the importance of the work of Equality bodies. In fact, equality bodies such the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism can represent large group of persons when there is no individual victims.

 

Further Information

Judgment - Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism v. Feryn case (English, 76KB)

Judgment - Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism v. Feryn case (French, 73 KB)

Belgian Cente for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism website

European Court of Justice website (case no. C-54/07)