Sacked for being too old

A 55-year-old man who was sacked for what he claims as ‘being too old’ has been awarded more than £50,000 by an employment tribunal.

David Ells was awarded £52,200 after he was dismissed from the Kent golf club where he had been working as the membership sales manager for eight years. He told Ashford Employment Tribunal that no other manager was over the age of 50 and that the position of group sales membership manager was offered to a 28-year-old and not to him, despite him having a good track record.

He said that he had been unfairly treated and had had false complaints made about him.

“I was given a staff disciplinary after a mystery shop call and, although I wasn’t great, I had been short of staff and was working extra hours on my days off. I was given a first written warning, but there were other people in the club who had done worse than I had done and they didn’t get a disciplinary at all.”

He said he went to hospital with what was thought to be a heart attack, but it turned out to be a stress-related problem. “I was off work for two weeks but after four days coming back they gave me a disciplinary for not sending a report back straight away,” he stated.

He claimed he was called in by his bosses and was told staff members had written complaints about him, which later turned out to be untrue. He was subsequently dismissed for misconduct but won his claim for unfair dismissal and age discrimination against the owners of the golf club. The £52,200 was made up of loss of wages and injury to feelings.