AGE DISCRIMINATION

A leading scientist won his unfair dismissal claim against Oxford University after being forced to retire aged 69. The employment tribunal ruled the university acted unlawfully by subjecting Paul Ewart to age discrimination. The university operated a justified retirement age scheme but the tribunal found this had only created a trivial number of new opportunities for younger academics and did not justify the discriminatory effect on older academics. Professor Ewart is seeking to be reinstated but the university is understood to be considering an appeal. 30 December 2019