An intersex person in Germany has been accused of ‘making a living by ripping off small businesses’ by applying for jobs and then suing for ‘discrimination’ when rejected.
The 47-year-old plaintiff, who has not been named, has won 239 cases over several years, which a judge recently estimated had earned them as much as €240,000.
They recently had their 240th case brought before the Hagen Labour Court, after being rejected from a job as an office management clerk at a printing company.
The plaintiff, from Bielefeld, sought €5,000 in damages from Siebdruck Jäger on the basis that the job application only addressed men and women, per RTL.
The German Equal Opportunities Act holds that job ads must also include an option for ‘diverse’ people, outside of the male/female binary.
Lawyer Wolfgang Zwiehoff, representing the printing company, cited the number of cases in a scathing criticism, saying it would take ‘a real business operation to get something like this through’.
‘The plaintiff is not serious about this – she has made it her business model,’ Zwiehoff, 72, added. ‘She makes a living by ripping off small businesses.’
The applicant told the court on Friday, ‘I am being discriminated against, whether as a trans person or because of my disability,’ however.
The plaintiff, who has not been named in line with German law, sought 5000 euros from the printing company
The plaintiff told a court in Hagen they were being discriminated against – as a lawyer representing the printing company insisted ‘she makes a living by ripping off… businesses’
German media references that the applicant is ‘severely disabled’ and has been unemployed for several years, without further detail.
‘I’m not doing this to make money. This is not a business model,’ the applicant told RTL.
‘I am being disadvantaged in the application selection process. That’s what I’m suing for here. That is my right.’
Alina Dünnebacke, a member of staff at the printing company, contested the claim, hitting back: ‘The law is being abused here. In this context, it is a scam and a pure rip-off.’
‘We were completely shocked when we suddenly received the lawsuit in the mail,’ she acknowledged.
An RTL report said Ms Dünnebacke, responsible for personnel, turned down the applicant due to insufficient qualifications.
The applicant reportedly chose to sue the company when they found out that the vacancy had not been reported to the employment agency, a necessity for jobs suitable for people with disabilities.
They were reported to have been compensated €700 for the trouble.
The Labour Judge described the case as ‘confusing’ when the plaintiff ‘accidentally’ included a rejection from another company in the lawsuit.
In another case, the applicant received €3,750 in compensation after suing a company on grounds of discrimination.
One of the issues raised was a missing ‘d’ for ‘diverse’ in the job posting, Bild reports.
The applicant also complained that the posting mentioned the company’s ‘young team’.
Intersex is an umbrella term that describes a wide range of natural variations that affect people’s genitals, chromosomes or reproductive organs.
Siebdruck Jäger is a printing company based in Hagen, Germany
Researchers have found that around 1.7 per cent of the population are born with some intersex traits that do not fit into the typical male/female binary distinction.
This is a natural variation that can occur due to both genetic and environmental factors, recorded in a range of species.
Around the world, many intersex people do face harrowing discrimination.
In some places, intersex children are forced to undergo procedures such as sterilising gonadectomies or clitoral reductions to ‘fit’ the male/female assumed binary.
The UN found that surgeries on children, often performed without full consent, ‘violate rights to the security of person, right to bodily and mental integrity, freedom from torture and ill-treatment, and freedom from violence.’
MailOnline contacted Siebdruck Jäger for comment.
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