Teenager awarded £16,000 compensation in age discrimination claim
Teenager, Leanne Wilkinson, became the first young worker in the UK to be awarded compensation under anti-age discrimination legislation after the completion of a full tribunal hearing. The tribunal found that she had been dismissed for being ‘too young’ and awarded her more than £16,000.
Ms Wilkinson claimed that she suffered age discrimination when her employment as a an administrative assistant was terminated after just 10 weeks at Springwell Engineering in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Ms Wilkinson, who was 18 at the time she was dismissed, claimed the company had told her that she was too young for the post and that they needed an older person with more experience.
The company resisted the claim, insisting that Ms Wilkinson was dismissed because her “error-ridden” accounts threatened to lose them customers. But the tribunal ruled that this argument was not borne out by the evidence. On examining work done by a predecessor and successor to the claimant, the tribunal found there was no difference in error rate.
In upholding Ms Wilkinson’s age discrimination claim, the tribunal held that the company made a stereotypical assumption that capability equals experience and experience equals older age, and that age was the reason for her dismissal.
Miss Wilkinson was awarded £16,081.12, of which £5,000 was for injury to feelings. The company was also ordered to provide any prospective employers with a truthful reference, clearly stating that dismissal was carried out in breach of the law on the grounds of her age and not on the basis of ability.
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