Abstract

The purpose of the present article is to discuss the judgement of the CJEU of 17 July 2021 in regard to the case C-795/19, XX v. Tartu Vangla, which refers to the assessment of national legislation allowing the dismissal of a prison officer for failure to comply with the minimum standards for sound perception from the point of view of the principle of equal treatment in employment. Once again, the Court has expressed its views on the interpretation of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of disability within the meaning of Directive 2000/78/EC and the permissible derogations from the principle of equal treatment. In particular, the CJEU considered the achievement of minimum standards of sound perception as a genuine and determining occupational requirement necessary to follow a profession of a prison officer and it explained that the directive stands in a way of a national regulation which stipulates that it is absolutely impossible to continue fulfilling duties by a prison officer whose auditory acuity does not meet the minimum standards of sound perception stated in the regulation, without allowing it to be ascertained whether that officer is capable of fulfilling those duties, where applicable, after the adoption of reasonable accommodation within the meaning of Article 5 of that directive.