Financial compensation of a victim of discrimination

The complainant was a sixty-year old man, whom an employer had refused to employ as a driver, saying that the job was very physically demanding and unsuitable for elderly people. The complainant considered himself to be affected in his rights by the company’s behaviour. After inquiring into all circumstances, the Ombudsman found discrimination on grounds of age. With respect to the fact that the company in question did not respond to the Ombudsman's report with any attempt to remedy the situation, the Ombudsman recommended that the complainant seek the required apology and financial compensation in court. Since the complainant was a recipient of only an old-age pension and could not afford to be represented by a legal counsel, the Ombudsman presented the case to Pro bono alliance. The association provided contact with a legal counsel, who decided to represent the complainant free of charge. Within a without prejudice communication, the legal counsel of the company proposed a compensation for immaterial harm in the amount of CZK 80,000. Facing the real threat of a lawsuit, the company agreed to the compensation and paid it to the complainant.

Besides private-law sanction in the form of compensation, an employer could be given a fine by the labour inspectorate for the administrative offence of discrimination (both during and prior to employment). In 2012 labour inspectorate bodies imposed fines on several employers that had published discriminatory advertisements with a (low) age requirement. The amount of the fine was in tens of thousands of CZK (70 thousand and 50 thousand, respectively).