High Court unites in landmark age discrimination case
The High Court has ruled in favour of Unite in a groundbreaking age discrimination case.
Sir Thomas Morison, sitting alone in the high court, ruled in Rolls Royce v Unite [2008] EWHC 2420 (QB), that it was justifi able to take long service into account when selecting workers for redundancy.
Rolls Royce had sought to argue that this amounted to indirect age discrimination, and breached the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1031).
Rolls Royce operated a points-based scheme, where points were allocated on various criteria including length of service with the company. It had argued that this was “unlawful age discrimination which could not be justified”. Unite, a trade union, successfully argued that it was lawful.
Michael Stokes, partner at Rowley Ashworth, who advised Unite, says: “This should give employers more confidence about their ability to retain older workers. I am suspicious of some employers’ motives—they have always been able to find justifications for other forms of discrimination, but not for age. When it comes to those provisions, they are almost devoid of ideas. That is not an accident.
“The High Court judge is saying it’s a straightforward matter to justify this [discrimination], that it says so in the legislation, and that it is acceptable to reward the loyalty of older workers.”
Unusually, the case was brought under Pt 8 of the CPR, and determined by a single judge in the High Court, rather than by an employment tribunal. Part 8 is usually used for contractual disputes, where a judge is asked to rule on a point of interpretation.
Stokes, an employment law specialist, says: “I have never seen this route taken before for an employment case.” The case could potentially open up a new route for parties seeking a determination on a grey area of employment law.
Unite joint general secretary Derek Simpson says: “Older workers often find it harder to find alternative employment when they are made redundant”.
Rolls Royce has been granted permission to appeal.
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