Judgment — ECLI:EU:T:2019:397
Date: 2019-06-11
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Fifth Chamber
Based on: Merger Treaty (1965)
Subject matter: Staff regulations and employment conditions - EC
Procedure: Staff cases - unfounded;Action for damages - successful;Action for damages - unfounded;Staff cases - successful;Action for damages - inadmissible

Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 11 June 2019 – TO v AEE (Case T‑462/17) (Civil service — Contract staff — Contract for a fixed period — Dismissal during sick leave — Article 16 of the CEOS — Article 48(b) of the CEOS — Article 26 of the Staff Regulations — Processing of personal data — Article 84 of the CEOS — Psychological harassment) 1. Actions brought by officials — Action against a decision rejecting a complaint — Effect — Disputed measure referred to the Court — Condition — Statement of reasons for the rejection decision must be the same as for the contested measure (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 48, 49) 2. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Termination of a fixed-term contract following sick leave — Conditions — Cumulative nature (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Arts 16, 2nd para. and 48(b)) (see para. 56) 3. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Termination of a fixed-term contract following sick leave — Conditions — Exceeding the period set for paid sick leave — Calculation of the length of time worked by the member of staff — Account taken of the cumulative period of sick leave including absences due to illness without a certificate (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 59(1); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Arts 16, 2nd para. and 48(b)) (see paras 57-71) 4. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Termination of a fixed-term contract following sick leave — Conditions — Impossibility for the member of staff to take up her duties again — Obligation of verification on the administration — Non-compliance — Annulment of the termination decision (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 34(1); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Arts 16, 2nd para. and 48(b)) (see paras 83-96) 5. Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Injury — Causal link — Burden of proof (Art. 340, 2nd para. TFEU) (see paras 98-102, 109, 119, 123) 6. Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Injury — Causal link — Cumulative conditions (Art. 340, 2nd para. TFEU) (see para. 103) 7. Actions brought by officials — Actions for damages — Annulment of the unlawful act not capable of ensuring adequate compensation for the non-material damage sustained — Dismissal of a member of staff on sick leave and in a state of psychological fragility on the basis of criticism likely to harm her professional reputation (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91) (see paras 130-140) 8. Officials — Social security — Insurance against the risk of accident and of occupational disease — Recognition of the occupational origin of the disease — Procedure — Submission of a declaration by the interested person — None — Rejection (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 73; Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Arts 28 and 95; Common rules on the insurance against the risk of accident and of occupational disease, Arts 1 and 16 to 23) (see paras 147-150) 9. Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Injury — Non-material damage related to the state of uncertainty and concern of a public servant with an irregular and incomplete individual record (Art. 340, 2nd para. TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 26) (see paras 164, 165) 10. Actions brought by officials — Actions for damages — Pre-litigation procedure — Different process depending on whether there is an act having adverse effect (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 179-181) 11. Actions brought by officials — Actions for damages — Autonomy in relation to the action for annulment — Admissible despite the lack of a pre-litigation procedure in accordance with the Staff Regulations — Condition — Application for damages linked to an application for annulment (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see para. 182) 12. Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Meaning — Late information to an official relating to the collection of personal data about her from third parties — Included (Art. 340, 2nd para. TFEU; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 45/2001, Art. 12(1)) (see paras 194-203) 13. Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Injury — Causal link — Burden of proving damage (Art. 340, 2nd para. TFEU) (see paras 205-208) 14. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Recruitment — Probationary period — Report at the end of the probationary period — Drawing up — Period granted to the member of staff to formulate her observations — Obligation to extend in the event of sick leave — None — Contact with the member of staff during the sick leave in order to obtain observations — Lawfulness (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 34; Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Art. 84) (see paras 220-228) 15. Judicial proceedings — Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings — Conditions — New plea — Meaning — Argument amending the very basis of EU liability — Included (Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 84) (see paras 234, 235) Re: Application pursuant to Article 270 TFEU seeking, on the one hand, annulment, first, of the decision of the Executive Director of the EEA of 22 September 2016 terminating the applicant’s employment as a member of the contract staff and, secondly, that director’s decision of 20 April 2017 rejecting the complaint brought by the applicant against the decision of 22 September 2016 and, on the other hand, compensation for the damage allegedly sustained by the applicant. Operative part The Court: 1. Annuls the decision of the Executive Director of the European Environmental Agency (EEA) of 22 September 2016 terminating TO’s employment as a member of the contract staff; 2. Orders the EEA to pay to TO a sum equal to one month’s salary in lieu of notice and to one third of TO’s basic salary per month of probation completed, less the dismissal allowance already received by TO; 3. Orders EEA to pay to TO an amount of EUR 6 000; 4. Dismisses the remainder of the action; 5. Orders the EEA to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by TO; 6. Orders the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to bear their own costs.