Ms Meister, a Russian national, applied to Speech Design for a software developer job. She had the right level of experience but the company rejected her application without interview.
She claimed sex, race and ethnic origin discrimination. But the really interesting part of this case is to do with her request to see the successful candidate's file. Did the employer have to show it to her? Ms Meister believed it would reveal that she was more qualified than the person who was eventually offered the job.
The European Court of Justice gave some clarification on the EU legislation. It said that there is no automatic entitlement for someone in Ms Meister's position to have access to that sort of information. But the Court went on to say that where an employer refuses to grant access to that information, then that refusal could contribute to evidence of direct or indirect discrimination. It's for the tribunal to decide whether or not that's the case.
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