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Case law: employee dismissed for being 'too young' - 06/06/2008
In a recent case, an 18-year-old administrative assistant was dismissed without warning after just 10 weeks in the job, and was told that she was too young. The company alleged that records kept by the employee were error-ridden, and that she had failed to achieve workload targets during her probationary period, although this was not borne out by the evidence.
The employment tribunal, hearing the employee's claim for unfair dismissal on the grounds of age discrimination, considered that the company had made a 'stereotypical assumption that capability equals experience and experience equals older age', and ruled that 'age was the predominant reason to dismiss'.
As a result, the employee was awarded compensation of more than £16,000, which included the sum of £5,000 for injury to her feelings and a 50 per cent uplift as a result of the company's failure to follow the statutory dismissal procedures.
Recommendation
Ensure that policies, procedures and staff training rule out age as a factor when determining an employee's capabilities, unless use of age as a factor can be 'objectively justified'.
Related Resources
in the Muckle LLP Resource Centre
