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County Personnel Recruitment Consultants Limited
53-57 The Parade
Bourne End
Buckinghamshire
SL8 5SB
Tel: 01628 851303
Email
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53-57 The Parade
Bourne End
Buckinghamshire
SL8 5SB
Tel: 01628 851303
View map
Created by Jon Davey
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42 Year Old Wins Age Discimination Case
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A City banker has won an age discrimination case at the age of 42, becoming one of the youngest people to be sacked because they were too old. Achim Beck, an investment banker, successfully sued his employer for sacking him because the company wanted a "younger" person to do his job.
The courts have yet to decide what damages he should receive but it is understood it could be hundreds of thousands of pounds, after an employment tribunal ruled he had been unfairly dismissed and that his age had played a part. He was replaced by 38-year-old. Lawyers said the ruling was significant and highlighted how age discrimination laws, introduced just 3 years ago, were a "gravy train" for many disgruntled workers who had lost their job. CIBC is considering the decision and has yet to decide whether to appeal against the ruling. Damages for unfair dismissal are capped at about £75,000; but if discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, sexual orientation or race (religion/belief and disability) can be proved then compensation is unlimited. The employment tribunal found that the bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, had been "hopelessly unfair" in how they had treated Mr. Beck, ruling they had used a "sham" redundancy process to replace the banker with someone younger. Mr. Beck, a German national who has lived and worked in London for the last decade, was a senior member of CIBC's derivatives team, earning a basic salary of £125,000 alongside a guaranteed bonus of £775,000. He had been at the bank for less than a year when he was sacked in May 2008 as the credit crunch hit the City. While it appeared his position was being made redundant as part of a restructuring, the tribunal found that the company was in the processes of hiring head hunters "seeking [a] younger, more entrepreneurial profile", according to an internal memo. Lawyers said age discrimination was often difficult to prove and that it was rare that documentary evidence existed to back up the dismissed employee's case. During the tribunal an executive of the bank was asked to explain what "younger" in the memo meant and he replied that it meant less experienced "as opposed to older and staid". The judges at the employment tribunal accepted that CIBC did consider hiring many workers in their forties or older when they sought a replacement for Mr. Beck, but the company failed to adequately prove that age was not a factor in his dismissal. Simon Watson, the head of the employment practice at Simmons & Simmons law firm, said that the discrimination laws had become a "gravy train" for sacked employees and their lawyers. "There is no question that the first thing a lawyer now talks about with a client in an unfair dismissal case is discrimination. Because discrimination removes the cap on damages, it is very, very advantageous if they can prove they have been discriminated against. " No records exist documenting the age of people in unfair dismissal cases, but it is understood that Mr. Beck will be among the youngest to win a case because he was too old. Earlier this year Peter Barker, 51, won a case against Air traffic control service, NATS because they refused to recruit any employee over the age of 35. Gareth Brahams, a partner at Lewis Silkin, who represented Mr. Beck, said: "Whilst discrimination against people in their forties does not classically fit with the general perception of age discrimination in the workplace, it is a real feature of modern working life, as this case demonstrates. "Age discrimination legislation does protect people of all ages, not just those at the upper and lower ends of the age spectrum." (Courtesy Telegraph.co.uk By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor Published: 7:00AM GMT 30 Dec 2009) |
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