A Vienna court has awarded 500 euros in damages to a non-binary individual after a major telecommunications company's online form required a choice between 'Frau' or 'Mann'. The Regional Court for Civil Matters issued this first-of-its-kind ruling in 2024.
The Klagsverband, an umbrella organization of 70 groups, supported the model lawsuit. The court ruled that companies cannot assign a gender to customers who do not belong to it, noting that Austrian civil status registers have included diverse options since 2020.
This decision confirms that the Austrian Equal Treatment Act prohibits discrimination in access to goods and services. It establishes that companies must account for gender diversity, even though the exact number of gender categories is not legally regulated.