Employment Solicitors

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed that the Tribunal was correct to reject claims of age discrimination made against various employment agencies where it was found that the applications made were not genuine.

An experienced accountant made several applications to several agencies for junior positions. Often before a response was received, the applications were followed by letters complaining of age discrimination and statutory questionnaires. The accountant then brought claims of age discrimination.

The Tribunal held that there was no discrimination because the accountant had suffered no detriment as she did not genuinely want the positions applied for. The Tribunal also made an order that the accountant pay the agencies’ costs because the claims were said to be an abuse of process. Both findings were upheld by the Appeal Tribunal.

This judgment will provide some comfort to organisations concerned by serial litigants attempting to exploit badly worded job applicants. It does not mean however that genuine job applicants do not have claims where an advert tends to indicate that a prospective employee will not be considered as a result of their experience or age. It is still important to ensure that job advertisements comply with all aspects of discrimination law.