Marschall v. Land Nordrhein-Westfalen

Helmutt Marschall (plaintiff) worked as a tenured teacher for the public-school system of Nordrhein-Westfalen (defendant). Marschall started with a salary commensurate with the basic grade in his career bracket. In February 1994, Marschall applied for promotion to a higher-grade teaching position at his school. The district authority for the school system informed Marschall that the school intended to appoint a female candidate to the position. Marschall lodged an administrative challenge to the school’s decision with the district government, but the district government rejected the challenge in July 1994. The district government found that both candidates were equally qualified and that, at the time the post was advertised, there were fewer women than men in the career bracket. The district government therefore found that under paragraph 25(5) of the German Law on Civil Servants of the Land, a female candidate must necessarily be promoted to the position. Marschall then brought legal proceedings before the regional administrative court seeking an order requiring the government of Nordrhein-Westfalen to promote him to the position. In December 1995, the administrative court referred the matter to the European Union Court of Justice to answer whether the governing German law, paragraph 25(5) of the Law on Civil Servants of the Land, conformed with Articles 2(1) and (4) of European Economic Community Directive 76/207 of 9 February 1976 (the directive).