Claimant v Support Service Leaders

Outcome

Facts

The claimant, aged 56, was an agency worker employed by the first respondent (an employment agency) and supplied to work for the second respondent (Investcorp International Limited) as a butler. He was dismissed by the first respondent on 29 July 2022. The claimant alleged that the second respondent had encouraged the first respondent to dismiss him because of his age, constituting direct age discrimination. He compared himself to younger colleagues named Miguel and Jamil. After a five-day merits hearing, the tribunal found that neither respondent had made any decisions about the claimant's employment or assignment that were motivated by his age.

Decision

The tribunal dismissed all the claimant's age discrimination claims, finding insufficient evidence that age played any part in either respondent's treatment of him. The second respondent then applied for reconsideration of the oral and written judgments, arguing that the tribunal had decided the case under the wrong legal provisions (section 111 of the Equality Act 2010 rather than section 13). The tribunal refused both reconsideration applications, holding that the case had been properly decided in accordance with the law and evidence, and that varying the judgment would serve no practical purpose given the tribunal's factual findings meant the claim would fail under any relevant statutory provision.

Practical note

Legal authorities cited