Strict judgments: GDPR hopping in court – what does this mean for applicants?

Strict judgments: GDPR hopping in court – what does this mean for applicants?

With its ruling of June 5, 2025, the Federal Labor Court (BAG) clearly rejected the phenomenon of “GDPR hopping”. This is a new business practice as part of the application process through which applicants without serious interest in a position see whether they can assert legal claims against companies. The plaintiff in this case, known for numerous compensation proceedings under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), has already been referred to by experts as the “AGG hopper”. This practice could now extend to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), since similar to AGG hopping, applicants also try to take advantage of alleged non-compliance by employers in data protection.

At the core of the BAG ruling is the finding that errors in the selection process that were claimed to be violations of the GDPR are not causal for damage caused by non-employment. The court also made it clear that damages based on the non-employment of an unsuitable applicant generally do not constitute a claim for damages under Article 82 I of the GDPR. The pending issue highlights the difficulties that employers today have in protecting themselves against such claims.

Challenges of data protection hopping

The phenomenon of data protection hopping, similar to AGG hopping, poses new challenges for companies. Applicants who apply for a job use the legal right to information and claims for damages after an unsuccessful application to raise possible allegations of discrimination. These include features such as mass applications and submitting standardized documents or applications for unrealistic positions. These tactics aim to identify job postings with potential for discrimination.

Companies respond to this behavior by developing strategies to minimize their attack surface. These include the reduction of job advertisements and the use of standardized rejection forms, while the labor courts now recognize AGG hopping as an abuse of law. In such cases, the employer is required to prove that the application was not made out of genuine interest.

The legal implications

An interesting example of the legal implications of this problem already took place in 2023: An applicant requested information about the data processed regarding an application from 2017. After the company did not respond on time, the applicant sued for damages and received 750 euros in compensation for the delayed information. These developments show that companies should take requests for information seriously and respond promptly to avoid claims for damages.

Another important aspect is the legal disputes surrounding the admissibility of companies obtaining information. For example, the Hamm Regional Labor Court ruled in one case that using generally accessible sources to obtain information is legal if the defendant wants to present evidence of possible abuse of the law. However, it remains unclear how the data protection assessment will develop in the future and whether the Federal Labor Court may take a different view here.

These constellations surrounding the topic of data protection hopping and AGG hopping raise important social and legal questions. They underline the need for companies to comply with applicable data protection regulations on the one hand and to ensure a fair and transparent application process on the other.

For more information and deeper insights into the topic you can visit the articles beck.de, rbl-arbeitsrecht.de and datenschutz-notizen.de visit.