The European Court of Justice has recently ruled that a public statement by an employer that he would not employ immigrants, as his customers 'would not like it', can constitute direct race discrimination.  The statement would have the effect of discouraging applicants from making job applications if they were from an ethnic minority and would make any claims by individuals harder to fight for the employer.

At the same time as releasing a number of job advertisements, the director of Feryn, a company that installed doors in consumers' homes, stated publicly that he would not employ "immigrants" as his customers would be reluctant to let them into their homes to install their doors.  The director defended himself by saying he was merely 'giving his customers what they wanted'.

In Centrum voor gelijkheid van kansen en voor racismebestrijding v Firma Feryn NV C-54/07, the Court was unimpressed and found that this statement (notwithstanding that no individual had actually complained to the courts of discrimination) was directly discriminatory and a public body (such as the Equal and Human Rights Commission in the UK) could bring proceedings against the employer.  In the event of a claim by a prospective employee, the statement would also reverse the burden of proof against the employer who would have to prove that its recruitment processes were not racially discriminatory.