The Greek government have a regulation which imposes a minimum height requirement for joining the police of 170cm. This minimum requirement is the same for both men and women so should this be considered indirect discrimination?
In Ypourgos Ethnikis Pedias kai Thriskevmaton v Kalliri the CJEU held that, yes, this would be considered unjustifiable indirect discrimination. The Greek court had initially found that the height requirement was indirectly discriminatory towards women and the CJEU held that it was not justifiable as height does not necessarily mean that a person is physically capable or incapable to do the job. It suggested that candidates could be tested specifically for their physical ability rather than given a height limit and, subject to the findings of the Greek court, held that the regulation was unjustified.
Written by
Rachael Jessop
2nd November 2018