Shambolic reorganisation not age discriminatory

Osoba v Chief Constable of the Hertfordshire Constabulary is a case more of anecdotal interest than legal but it is worth a mention nonetheless. The EAT upheld a Tribunal decision that, while a scoring matrix which was applied to a restructure organisation in order to reduce headcount was shambolically operated and incompetently constructed, it was not deliberately discriminatory such to ensure that one police officer who was able to retire on a full pension would be redeployed. When questioned, he had stated that if he decided not to retire (which was open to him), he would prefer to stay in this role rather than be redeployed, if selected for redundancy. The Tribunal held that the incompetence of the whole process was sufficient to rebut a prima facie case of age discrimination and no further explanation was necessary.

This is not to be taken as an open door for employers to make a mess of restructures in order to cover up age discriminatory intentions!

This legal update is provided for general information purposes only and should not be applied to specific circumstances without prior consultation with us.

For further details on any of the issues covered in this update please contact Gemma Ospedale, Partner in Employment on 020 7583 2222.