Ruling court European Court of Justice | ||
Citation(s) (1984) Case 14/83,, ECR 1891 | ||
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.
Contents
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.