Regional Labour Court Düsseldorf, 30.01.2014, Ref.: 13 Sa 1198/13
Contrary to the opinion of many employers, the initiation of an employment relationship between the employee and the employer is by no means a legal vacuum.
Caution is therefore required both in the wording of the job advert and in the wording of the rejection letter for an applicant.
The reason for this is the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), which came into force on 18 August 2006.
According to §§ 11, 7 AGG, the prohibition of discrimination in § 1 AGG must be observed when advertising a job.
The following diagram illustrates the legal interests protected by the AGG: 
In the above-mentioned judgement of the Düsseldorf Regional Labour Court, the court had to decide whether the job advertisement of a law partnership, which was explicitly aimed at young professionals, was age-discriminatory within the meaning of the AGG.
Facts of the Case The 60-year-old plaintiff had a doctorate in law and had practised as a sole practitioner since 1988.
The defendant, a large partnership of lawyers, had placed a job advertisement in the Neue Juristische Wochenschrift and indicated that it was looking for lawyers.
This advert included a link to the defendant's website with specific job advertisements. There, the defendant was looking for a lawyer for the restructuring and property sector. The text of this job advertisement stated, among other things:
"Are you looking for a real opportunity to become a partner in a renowned law firm? We offer an exciting alternative to large international law firms, both professionally, commercially and personally. You are a young professional or have already worked for one or two years as a lawyer in a commercially orientated law firm".
The defendant rejected the plaintiff's application for this position on the grounds that it had decided otherwise. Following this rejection, the plaintiff sought compensation of 10,000 euros from the defendant for age discrimination.
The Essen Labour Court had initially dismissed the claim, against which the plaintiff appealed to the Düsseldorf Regional Labour Court.
Regional Labour Court Düsseldorf: In its decision, the LAG Düsseldorf pointed out that the job advertisement could be assumed to be discriminatory in the sense that potential applicants were excluded because of their age.
Despite this assessment, however, the Chamber indicated that the appeal would nevertheless have no prospect of success because the overall circumstances cast considerable doubt on the seriousness of the plaintiff's application and it was therefore likely to be categorised as an abuse of rights.
After the defendant undertook to donate 2,000 euros to a charitable organisation at the suggestion of the court, the plaintiff withdrew his appeal.
Source: Düsseldorf Regional Labor Court
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