Vienna, Austria - An Austrian official is to receive more than 300 000 euros (about R4.4 million) for being unfairly passed over for promotion because of his gender, Austrian media reported on Tuesday.
Peter Franzmayr sued for discrimination after failing to get an internal promotion in the transport ministry in 2011, with the job going instead to the then-head of the rail regulator, Ursula Zechner.
The Federal Administrative Court agreed with him, ruling in February that there was a "discernible pattern, according to which [Zechner] was treated more favourably than the other candidates from the beginning".
Franzmayr will receive 317 368 euros in compensation, reflecting the extra money he would have earned in the post as well as damages, the Die Presse newspaper reported.
The transport minister at the time of the appointment, Doris Bures of the Social Democrats (SPOe), defended the way it was handled and said all the relevant legal procedures had been followed.
The shortlisted candidates were all judged highly qualified, she added, saying that the eventual decision had been taken because of the "massive under-representation of women".
"I hope the current decision doesn't call into the question the principle of encouraging the promotion of women," she said in a statement.
Franzmayr went on to work as a lawyer and the head of the town authorities in the town of Wels.
Earlier this month he was appointed by the current Transport Minister, Norbert Hofer of the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), as head of the board of supervisors at the state motorway operator Asfinag.