The General Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Xustiza de Galicia (TSXG) has recognized for the first time compensation for damages to a pensioner who was denied the maternity supplement.
This ruling comes after the ruling issued last September by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in which it decreed, in response to a preliminary question raised by the Social Chamber of the TSXG itself, that Spain should compensate parents who have judicially claimed their maternity supplement.
Thus, it has recognized for the first time the right of an appellant to be compensated by the National Social Security Institute (INSS) with 1,500 euros for the damages caused, derived from the violation of the fundamental right to equality.
The TSXG understands that the amount set – 1,500 euros – is sufficient to “compensate in full for the damages actually suffered as a result of the discrimination, according to the applicable national rules, including the costs and attorney’s fees that the interested party has incurred on the occasion of the Judicial procedement”.
In the opinion of the judges of the high court, it is an amount that “considerably restores equality on both levels (material and procedural) to which the CJEU refers and compensates for the damages suffered by the actor, adjusting to what is requested by the beneficiary himself. (congruence)”.
The full Chamber, made up of 15 magistrates, highlights that the INSS resolution in which it denied her the maternity supplement “violated her right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex.”
Furthermore, the TSXG has once again established – as it has done in hundreds of rulings – the retroactive effects of the maternity supplement on the date of the event that caused the supplemented benefit.
In the ruling, the TSXG emphasizes that “the right of men to enjoy the maternity benefit on equal terms to women is now indisputable.” The sentence is not final, since an appeal can be filed against it.
