Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 14 July 2021 –
AQ v eu-LISA

(Case T‑164/19)

(Civil service – Members of the temporary staff – Sick leave – Termination of the contract without notice – Article 16 of the CEOS – Article 48(b) of the CEOS – Duty of care – Article 34 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – Liability – Material harm – Non-material harm – Causal link)

Actions brought by officials – Action against a decision rejecting a complaint – Admissibility – Obligation to rule on claims directed against the decision rejecting the complaint – Claims lacking independent content or purely confirmatory decision – None

(Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 90 and 91)

(see paras 35, 36)

Judicial proceedings – Introduction of new pleas during the proceedings – Conditions – Plea based on matters which have come to light in the course of the procedure – Absence – Amplification of an existing plea – No amplification – Inadmissibility

(Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 84(1))

(see paras 58-60, 63, 64, 71)

Officials – Members of the temporary staff – Termination of a fixed-term contract following sick leave – Conditions – Exceeding the period set for paid sick leave – Calculation of the length of time worked by the member of staff – Taking into account of services performed under the scheme for part-time work on medical grounds

(Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Arts 16, second and third paras, and 48(b))

(see paras 73, 74)

Officials – Members of the temporary staff – Termination of a fixed-term contract following sick leave – Conditions – Exceeding the period set for paid sick leave – Investigation – Administration’s discretion – Scope

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 34(1); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Arts 16, second and third paras, and 48(b))

(see paras 82-90)

5.	Officials – Non-contractual liability of the institutions – Conditions – Unlawfulness – Damage – Causal link – Burden of proof (Art. 340, second para., TFEU) (see paras 97-100)

Officials – Non-contractual liability of the institutions – Conditions – Unlawfulness – Concept – Termination of a fixed term contract at the end sick leave without automatic verification of the state of health of the agent concerned – Breach of duty of care – None – Not included

(Art. 340, second para., TFEU; Staff Regulations of Officials, Arts 9(1) and 59(4); Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, Arts 16(1) and 33(2); Rules on insurance against the risk of accident and of occupational disease, Arts 1, 15 and 16)

(see paras 106-116)

7.	Officials – Organisation of departments – Assignment of staff – Administration's discretion – Limits – Interests of the service – Compliance with the principle of assignment to an equivalent post (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 7(1)) (see para. 125)

8.	Actions brought by officials – Actions for damages – Annulment of the illegal act in dispute – Whether appropriate reparation for non-material damage – Limits (Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91) (see para. 130)

Re:

Action under Article 270 TFEU seeking, first, annulment of the decision of eu-LISA of 8 May 2018 to terminate the applicant’s contract as a member of the temporary staff and, secondly, compensation for the loss which the applicant claims to have suffered as a result of that decision,

Operative part

The Court:

1.	Annuls the decision of 8 May 2018 by which the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) terminated the employment of AQ as a temporary agent;

2.	Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3.	Orders AQ and eu-LISA to bear their own costs;

4.	Orders the Council of the European Union to bear its own costs.