In Pitcher v Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford and another, an employment tribunal held that Oxford University's "employer-justified retirement age" for academics is a proportionate means of achieving its legitimate aims.
In Lord Chancellor and another v McCloud and others; Ministry of Justice v Mostyn and others; Secretary of State for the Home Department and others v Sargeant and others, the Court of Appeal held that the Government's view that "it felt right" to protect older workers with transitional provisions when making changes to pensions for judges and firefighters was insufficient to defend direct age discrimination claims.
In Matier v Spring & Airbrake Ireland Ltd, a Northern Ireland industrial tribunal awarded £3,155 for age discrimination to a jobseeker who was told that a prospective employer was "looking for a younger person".
In James v Coedffranc Community Council, an employment tribunal upheld an unsuccessful job applicant's age discrimination claim after an interviewer said "I've just noticed how old you are" and jotted down older candidates' ages on interview notes.
In Air Products plc v Cockram, the Court of Appeal held that the employment tribunal was correct to find that a rule in a long-term incentive share plan that employees whose employment terminates before they are 55 forfeit all unvested awards under the plan is justified.
An employment tribunal has held that an estate agent administrator who resigned after she was told that she would be "better suited to a traditional estate agency" was subjected to age discrimination.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that, in assessing the employer's justification defence, the tribunal had failed to adopt a holistic approach and consider an age-related cap on redundancy payments within the broader context.
The Supreme Court has held that claimants are not required in indirect discrimination claims to explain why the provision, criterion or practice (PCP) puts, or would put, the affected group at a particular disadvantage.
The Court of Appeal has held that the decision to reduce officer head count "to the fullest extent" by forcibly retiring police officers with 30 years' service was justified.
We round up three recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgments about discrimination. The ECJ has recently considered: temporary incapacity caused by a workplace accident in Barcelona; the recruitment age limit for Basque police officers; and survivors' pensions for same-sex partners in Ireland.