Antrim man told he was too old for job awarded £3,000

A man who said he was told that he was too old to apply for a job as a store person/van driver has been awarded £3,000 by an industrial tribunal.

It found that 63-year-old Antrim man Patrick Matier had been discriminated against because of his age.

Mr Matier's case against Spring and Airbrake Ireland Limited was supported by the Equality Commission.

Spring and Airbrake said they were disappointed in the decision and would be looking to have it reviewed.

In its finding, the Tribunal said the incident "had the effect of significantly discouraging the claimant".

"This had been caused entirely by the behaviour of the respondent and this behaviour was motivated by age discrimination," it added.

However, the Tribunal also said it had, at times, found "the claimant to be a little imprecise and vague", but not to a degree that it undermined the "cogency of the claimant's evidence".

Mr Matier told the tribunal that a member of staff at the company told him there was no point applying due to his age.

He called at the premises of Spring and Airbrake Ireland Limited at Nutts Corner, County Antrim, in February 2018 after learning of a vacancy.

The tribunal accepted his evidence that when he was giving his details to a man at the firm's premises, he was asked to give his age.

He was then told that the company was looking for a younger person who could be trained and "moved upstairs".

When Mr Matier asked if there was any point in continuing the conversation he was told: "No, not really."

Speaking after the decision Mr Matier said he "had been keen to get this job."

"And to be told I was too old to even apply for it really shook me," he added.

"I had been off work for a while and I was trying to get back in to work."

The Equality Commission said that it is unlawful under the Employment Equality Age Regulations of 2006 for any employer to discriminate on grounds of age.

"This case is an important reminder to all employers not to make generalised assumptions about people on grounds, such as age, which are protected by anti-discrimination law," Mary Kitson, senior legal officer at the Commission said.

"The Tribunal, in its finding, said, 'he was, in effect, given no opportunity on the grounds of his age'.

"No employer should be making assumptions about a person's ability, or suitability for training and promotion, because of their age."

In a statement, issued through its solicitors MCL Employment Law, Spring and Airbrake Ireland Limited said the case also highlighted the "non existence of an Employment Appeal Tribunal".

"Should a review fail to address the shortcomings of this decision, the only avenue open to the Respondent is to refer the matter to the Court of Appeal, which for any company is extremely prohibitive financially," it added.