Check whether the case falls under the AGG
The Act does not protect against unfairness in general, only against disadvantage on eight named grounds. Establish the ground and the field first, otherwise there is nowhere to go.
✓ Verified: 11/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
› Details and tips
Start with the ground, not with the feeling of unfairness. A rejection saying you are not the right fit is not an AGG case without a link to a statutory ground — other rules apply there.
In job adverts discrimination usually hides in age and language: phrases like young dynamic team, or a demand for German as a native language without any business need, are the classic indicators.
Useful Tools
- Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes legal-info
Federal anti-discrimination agency: free advice on the AGG and a map of local counselling centres.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Which grounds does the Act protect? ▾
The aim of the Act is to prevent or eliminate disadvantage on grounds of race or ethnic origin, sex, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual identity. Other motives, however unfair, do not fall under this Act.
What is indirect disadvantage? ▾
An apparently neutral provision or procedure capable of putting people with one of the grounds at a particular disadvantage. It stays lawful only where objectively justified by a legitimate aim and where the means are appropriate and necessary.
Does the behaviour of colleagues count as discrimination? ▾
Yes, where it is unwanted conduct related to a statutory ground that violates dignity and creates an environment of intimidation, hostility, degradation or insult. The Act names sexual harassment separately.
And if the ground was merely assumed? ▾
The prohibition still applies: a disadvantage exists even where the person acting merely assumes the ground is present. A mistaken assumption does not remove the protection.
Does the Act cover renting and shopping? ▾
In civil law it applies to mass transactions, to dealings where the individual matters little, and to private insurance. For race and ethnic origin the protection reaches further. Housing has exceptions: letting is generally not a mass transaction where the landlord lets no more than 50 flats in total.