A doctor left a pension scheme to avoid tax penalties. Years later, his employer set up a scheme to compensate those affected. It wasn’t indirect age discrimination to limit the retrospective effect of the scheme. Mr Leinhardt began employment with the NHS in August 1982. He started working at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation trust…

A job advert seeking “newly qualified HR professionals” did not cause age discrimination because the potential applicant suffered no detriment. Mr Stephenson worked in the HR department of Northumberland County Council (“the Council”). He was put at risk of redundancy and sought suitable alternative positions within the Council. Positions were banded from 1-12, with higher…

Ms Shirin, 51, worked for Wilson Barca LLP, as a paralegal. She had qualified as a Barrister a few years earlier, and then worked in a solicitor’s firm before applying for this role because it promised the possibility of a training contract after 12 months. Ms Shirin kept a diary over the 8 months she…

An age discrimination claim was struck out because there was a lack of evidence to demonstrate any reasonable prospect of success. Mr Sinclair worked as a senior consultant for Faithful and Gould Ltd. He was not offered to be trained on a new type of work known as BREEAM. He was determined by Faithful and…

Although a belief that insurance cover prevented a 67 year old from driving was erroneous (the policy actually prevented 70+ year olds from driving) it was not age discrimination to stop him from driving. A justification defence succeeded. Mr Lynch started work as a HGV driver with Harkers Transport Limited on 24 May 2016. In…

An Employment Tribunal dismissed an age discrimination claim which argued that a Council worker had been sacked because of a stereotypical assumption about the behaviour of older men. Mr Uddin had been employed as a deputy team leader in the Family Intervention Programme at the London Borough of Ealing (“the Council”). Mr Uddin was shadowed…

Mr Rasmussen was dismissed by Ajos, his employer, upon reaching 60 years of age. Danish law provides that, in most circumstances, a dismissed employee is entitled to a severance payment. However, Mr Rasmussen was not entitled to such a severance payment as he had joined a pension scheme run by his employer and had joined…

An Employment Tribunal has found that an applicant for a park attendant role was directly discriminated against because of their age. It is a reminder of the benefit of prepared and scripted interviews, and the dangers of unscripted ones. Facts On 21 September 2017, Coedffranc Community Council (“the Council”) placed an advert for a park…

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that a new pension scheme for firefighters was not age discriminatory. Ms Sargeant and several other members of the Fire Brigades Union (“the firefighters”) challenged their respective employing Fire and Rescue Authorities, as well as the relevant Government Departments, over the legitimacy of the transitional provisions included in the…

Two cases have been judged in tandem by the Court of Appeal due to the similarity in issues regarding age discrimination and new pension schemes. “McCloud” concerns the new pension scheme provisions for judges (“Judges’ case”), whilst “Sargeant” relates to the new pension scheme provisions for firefighters (“Firefighters’ case”). We report on both EAT decisions…