No compensation for breach of the duty to provide information under Article 15 of the GDPR

In a recent ruling, the Düsseldorf Regional Labor Court held that a violation of the obligation to provide information under Article 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not justify monetary compensation, even if the information was provided late or incompletely.

Background and Details of the Case

A former employee of a real estate company had repeatedly requested information pursuant to Art. 15 GDPR. He had already submitted a request in 2020, to which the defendant company had responded. In October 2022, he submitted another request, to which he received no response. The plaintiff therefore set a deadline for the company to provide the requested information. This information was then provided only inadequately, leading to further correspondence between the plaintiff and the defendant company. After multiple letters and inadequate responses from the company, the plaintiff sought monetary compensation pursuant to Article 82(1) of the GDPR.

Court ruling: No right to compensation

The Düsseldorf Regional Labor Court dismissed the claim, even though it was determined that the defendant company had violated Art. 12(3) and Art. 15 of the GDPR. The information was not provided within the prescribed time limit and was initially incomplete; complete information was not available until six weeks after the deadline had expired.

Court’s reasoning

The court argued that a violation of Article 15 of the GDPR does not automatically give rise to a claim for monetary compensation under Article 82(1) of the GDPR. The breach of the duty to provide information in itself, whether due to delay or initial incompleteness, does not in itself justify compensation. Furthermore, a claim for monetary compensation for non-pecuniary damage requires more than a mere violation of the GDPR. Since the plaintiff did not specifically allege any further non-pecuniary damage, the claim was dismissed.

The ruling thus underscores that a mere breach of the duty to provide information under Article 15 of the GDPR does not automatically give rise to a claim for compensation, and that non-pecuniary damage is required for such a claim.

Professional Advice

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