Legal hurdle scuppers pensioner's age discrimination claim

Wednesday 06 March 2019

A little-known clause in the law allowing businesses to dismiss employees when they reach retirement age has scuppered a 71-year-old woman's claim for age discrimination compensation.

Linda Blake took the Island Medical Centre and its practice manager Christopher Sprent to the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal when they refused to renew her contract of employment. She claimed it was because of her age.

But her claim was dismissed because, under the law, employers can dismiss employees once they have reached pensionable age, or a higher retirement age fixed by their employer, if this is the stated policy.

Pictured: Mrs Blake believed her contract wasn't renewed due to her age, and filed a claim for compensation.

Ms Blake argued that she had been discriminated against not only because the company had refused to renew her contract because of her age but also because a colleague of similar age had been treated differently.

However, Advocate Ian Jones, Deputy Panel Chairman sitting with Panel Members Mrs Anne Southern and Mrs Louise Cram, found that employers had no obligation to extend employment indefinitely beyond retirement age, nor to treat all their staff in the same way.

The tribunal heard that the Island Medical Centre was explicit about its approach to staff beyond normal retiring age: “In certain circumstances consideration may be given to fresh employment being offered to you after retirement. Such offers will be totally at the discretion of the Group Directors or Partners and will be reviewed on an annual basis,” the staff handbook said.

Island Medical Centre had denied that it had dismissed the 71-year-old because of her age, but the Tribunal ruled that Ms Blake would have failed in her claim even if this had been the case.

Ms Blake’s normal retirement age was 65 and although her employer had extended her contract on a number of previous occasions, it was under no obligation to continue to do so indefinitely. Her claim against the Island Medical Centre "had encountered an insurmountable legal hurdle", the tribunal found.