The case concerns an employee that asked the employer to provide him with glasses that had become necessary due to the deterioration of his eyesight caused by the continuous use of video terminals in the workplace since the Romanian national health service does not provide them. However, the employer refused to reimburse the cost of the purchased glasses.

Before the Romanian court ruled on the dispute in appeal, it submitted a preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice.

Article 9 of the European Directive, 90/270/EEC on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment provides that workers using video display screens must be given an appropriate examination of their eyes and eyesight, both before starting work and during the performance of the activity, periodically and in the event of visual disturbances. Moreover, employees must obtain special corrective appliances related to the work without additional costs if needed.

According to the Court, this should be interpreted to the extent that special corrective appliances can include glasses with corrective lenses and that these appliances do not have to be used exclusively in a professional capacity.

Employers may discharge this obligation by supplying or reimbursing the spectacles, even by paying a supplement that covers the total cost.

According to this ruling, employers should consider that employees may be entitled to prescription glasses if they spend a significant part of their working time in front of a screen, but only when regular spectacles or reading glasses do not adequately protect against work-related visual impairment.