Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 19 December 2019 –

ZQ v Commission

(Case T‑647/18)

(Civil service — Officials — Psychological harassment — Article 12a of the Staff Regulations — Request for assistance — Article 24 of the Staff Regulations — Rejection of the request — Reasonable time — Absence of prima facie evidence — Obligation to state reasons — Liability)

1. Actions brought by officials — Action against a decision rejecting a complaint — Effect — Disputed measure referred to the Court — Exception — Decision not confirmatory in character — Account taken of the reasoning therein (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 35-38)

2. Officials — Obligation of administration to provide assistance — Implementation in the case of psychological harassment — Bringing of a request for assistance — Duty to act within a reasonable time — Point at which the reasonable time begins to run (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 12a, 24 and 90(1)) (see paras 41-43)

3. Officials — Obligation of administration to provide assistance — Scope — Scope — Limits (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 24) (see paras 54-60)

4. Officials — Psychological harassment — Concept — Negative observations made to an official — Precluded — Conditions (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 12a) (see para. 78)

5. Officials — Psychological harassment — Concept — Administrative decisions and disagreements with the administration on questions related to the organisation of the services — Not included (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 12a(3)) (see paras 83, 98)

6. Officials — Decision adversely affecting an official — Obligation to state reasons — Scope (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 25, second para.) (see paras 117-119)

7. Actions brought by officials — Pleas in law — Lack of or inadequate statement of reasons — Separate ground from the one concerning substantive legality (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 25, second para.) (see para. 120)

8. Officials — Psychological harassment — Concept — Conduct intended to discredit the person concerned or to impair his working conditions (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 12a(3)) (see para. 164)

9. Officials — Obligation of administration to provide assistance — Implementation in the case of psychological harassment — Bringing of a request for assistance — Duty to act within a reasonable time — Length of the period of time (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 24 and 90(1)) (see para. 184)

10. Actions brought by officials — Application for damages linked to an application for annulment — Dismissal of claim for annulment leading to dismissal of the claim for compensation (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91) (see para. 202)

11. Actions brought by officials — Action for damages brought without a pre-litigation procedure in accordance with the Staff Regulations — Inadmissibility (Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91) (see paras 206-208)

Re:

Application based on Article 270 TFEU seeking, first, annulment of the Commission decision of 15 December 2017 rejecting the request for assistance made by the applicant on 18 August 2017 and, in so far as is necessary, of the Commission decision of 19 July 2018 rejecting the complaint lodged by the applicant on 19 March 2018 and, second, compensation for the material and non-material damage he claims to have suffered.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Dismisses the action;