Judgment of the General Court (Ninth Chamber) of 29 November 2018 –

WL v ERCEA

(Case T‑493/17)

(Civil service — Members of the contract staff — Administrative inquiry — Extension of a probationary period — Preparatory act — Dismissal — Notification of dismissal by email — Time for bringing a complaint — Starting point — Inadmissibility — Compliance with essential procedural requirements — Dismissal decision at the end of the probationary period — Breach of the relationship of trust — Liability — Request for a hearing made in the application but not reiterated in accordance with Article 106(2) of the Rules of Procedure)

1. Actions brought by officials — Subject-matter — Directions to the administration — Statements of law — Inadmissibility (Arts 263 TFEU and 270 TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91) (see paras 25, 26)

2. Actions brought by officials — Acts adversely affecting an official — Meaning — Preparatory act — Decision to extend the probationary period — Not included (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 34, 35)

3. Actions brought by officials — Acts adversely affecting an official — Meaning — Preparatory act — Report of an administrative investigation — Not included (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 38, 39)

4. Actions brought by officials — Prior administrative complaint — Time-limits — Point from which time starts to run — Notification — Meaning — Dismissal decision communicated by e-mail — Burden of proof of notification (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 54, 59-62)

5. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Recruitment — Probationary period — Report at the end of the probationary period — Delay in drawing up report — Validity (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 34; Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Art. 84) (see paras 137, 138)

6. Officials — Members of the contract staff — Recruitment — Probationary period — Dismissal decision at the end of the probationary period — Information needed for an assessment — Judicial review — Limits (Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, Art. 84) (see paras 170, 171)

7. Officials — Non-contractual liability of the institutions — Conditions — Unlawfulness — Damage — Causal link — Cumulative conditions (see para. 207)

Re:

Application under Article 270 TFEU, first, for annulment of the decision of the ERCEA to dismiss the applicant orally on 10 January 2017, with immediate restoration of the employment relationship, and for an order that the ERCEA pay all remuneration that has accrued in the interim, second, for annulment of the decision of the ERCEA of 28 October 2016 to extend the applicant’s probationary period and for a finding that that probationary period had ended as of 1 November 2016, third, for annulment of the measures taken pursuant to an administrative inquiry by the Investigation and Disciplinary Office of the Commission (IDOC) and of the inquiry report dated 7 November 2016 and for an order that the ERCEA delete that inquiry from the Human Resource Management information system and from any other database of the EU institutions, fourth, for annulment of the dismissal decision of the ERCEA dated 22 December 2016, as notified to the applicant on 24 January 2017, immediate restoration of the employment relationship and an order that the ERCEA pay damages in compensation for harm suffered in the form of remuneration that has accrued between the date of dismissal and the date of delivery of the judgment or, failing reintegration into employment, an order that the ERCEA pay damages for loss of earnings until the date stipulated for the end of the contract, which amounts to EUR 39000, and, fifth, in any event, for an order that the ERCEA pay the applicant in the amount of EUR 300000 in damages or any other amount, greater or lesser, as the Court may deem appropriate, on account of the serious damage to the applicant’s image and to her personal and professional reputation.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;