In Canning v National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, in a re-organisation, an interview process was used to decide who would be made redundant. C performed poorly in interview and was dismissed. She and the other two selected for redundancy were the oldest in the pool. The EAT agreed with the ET that the dismissal was not unfair, nor did it amount to age discrimination. C had not raised any objection to the interview process and although there were valid criticisms about the selection procedure, there were “checks and balances” in place as a five-member panel was involved marking each interviewee independently and the procedure was reasonable in the circumstances. The employer had also provided a non-discriminatory explanation for the selection decision. The panel only considered answers given at interview, they acted in good faith and there was clear evidence that C’s answers were poor. C was selected because of her poor performance in her interview not because of age.

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