Court case 1 Sa 148/22 – Court Ruling (Germany, 2023)

In this case, the data subject, a 1972-born individual, applied to the controller, an eCommerce company selling garden and Indoor furniture, for a position. The data subject, with a diverse career background including roles in banking, IT security, and sales, highlighted his qualifications in a structured email application. Despite following up, the controller rejected the application. On 14 June 2021, the data subject claimed age discrimination and demanded compensation of €1,500, and refused a subsequent interview invitation. Additionally, on 14 September 2021, the data subject requested detailed information about stored personal data under Article 15 GDPR. The company responded on 21 September 2021, stating that no further data beyond the email correspondence was stored. The data subject pursued legal action for damages under Article 82 GDPR and argued that information used by its legal representatives from an online database violated his right to informational self-determination and should be deleted. The court held that the data subject's claims were unsubstantiated, dismissing the case on grounds of abuse of rights. Firstly, the court determined that the data subject used the GDPR and the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) claims purely to obtain compensation, a purpose not aligned with the intended spirit of these laws. Although the court confirmed that the data subject had followed the appropriate procedural timelines (e.g., filing within the three-month period as required by the AGG), it nonetheless ruled the actions as abusive under § 242 of the German Civil Code (BGB). Next, the court acknowledged some GDPR violations by the controller, noting a partial failure to provide information required by Article 15 GDPR and Article 13 GDPR. However, it found these insufficient to warrant damages under Article 82 GDPR, especially since these claims appeared to be integrated as part of a larger strategy for financial gain rather than genuine data protection concern