Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber) of 16 April 2008.#Christos Michail v European Commission.#Case T-486/04.

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE (First Chamber)

16 April 2008

Case T-486/04

Christos Michail

v

Commission of the European Communities

(Civil service – Officials – Actions for annulment – Duty to provide assistance – Mental harassment)

Application: seeking annulment of the implied decision of 20 March 2004 by the Commission rejecting an application for assistance made by the applicant under Article 24 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities.

Held: The action is dismissed. Mr Christos Michail is to bear one half of his costs. The Commission is to bear its own costs and to pay one half of the costs of Mr Michail.

Summary

Officials – Mental harassment – Definition

An official who claims to have been the victim of mental harassment must, irrespective of the subjective perception which he may have had of the facts alleged by him, put forward a body of evidence proving that he has been subjected to conduct aimed, on an objective view, at discrediting him or at deliberately impairing his working conditions, in other words, conduct which, viewed objectively, is of an intentional nature.

(see paras 62, 63)

See: T‑7/98, T‑208/98 and T‑109/99 De Nicola v EIB [2001] ECR‑SC I‑A‑49 and II‑185, para. 286; T‑144/03 Schmit v Commission [2005] ECR-SC I‑A‑101 and II‑465, paras 64 and 65