Judgment No. 3782
Decision
1. The EPO shall pay each complainant moral damages in the amount of 3,000 euros. 2. It shall also pay costs in the total amount of 1,200 euros. 3. All other claims are dismissed.
Summary
The complainants contest the classification of their posts.
Judgment keywords
Keywords
complaint allowed; delay; post classification; delay in internal procedure
Consideration 1
Extract:
As the complaints are nearly identical, the Tribunal finds it convenient to join them.
Keywords
joinder
Consideration 5
Extract:
The claim for moral damages for the excessive delay in the internal appeal proceedings is founded. Consistent case law holds that an unjustified duration of four years for the processing of an internal appeal constitutes an excessive delay. In the present case, the EPO has not justified in any way the three-year delay from the time of the filing of the internal appeals and the filing of its position paper. Considering the length of the delay, the nature of the question raised, and the age of the complainants, the Tribunal sets the award of moral damages in the amount of 3,000 euros per complainant.
Keywords
moral injury; delay in internal procedure
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