DISCRIMINATION

The fact that an employer states publicly that it will not recruit employees of a certain ethnic or racial origin constitutes direct discrimination in respect of recruitment within the meaning of Art 2(2)(a) of Council Directive 2000/43/EC and is sufficient for a presumption of the existence of a recruitment policy which is directly discriminatory within the meaning of Art 8(1) of the Directive. This is so even if no particular complainant could be identified.

It is for the employer to prove that there was no breach of the principle of equal treatment. The employer can do so by showing that the undertaking’s actual recruitment practice does not correspond to those statements; it is then for the national court to verify that the facts alleged are established and to assess the sufficiency of the evidence submitted in support of the employer’s contentions that it has not breached the principle of equal treatment. Under Art 15 of the Directive, effective sanctions are required even where there is no identifiable victim.