Oxford professor sues after being ‘forced to retire to boost diversity’
AN OXFORD University professor is suing for unfair dismissal on the grounds of age discrimination, saying he was forced to retire to boost “diversity”, an employment tribunal heard.
Professor John Pitcher, 69, said he wanted to carry on working as an English tutor at St John’s College, where he had been employed as a Shakespeare expert for 36 years.
In December 2012 a retirement date was set for September 30, 2016, but he was then made a founder’s fellow on a fixed term from 2014 to 2020.
However, he claimed he was “forcibly retired” in 2016 after the university and college applied an employment justified retirement age (EJRA) policy. EJRAs were introduced after the compulsory retirement age was scraped by the government in 2010. Prof Pitcher earned £83,000 a year for his official fellow and tutor roles plus a housing allowance of £18,000. He is claiming £102,000 in lost earnings.
He told a Watford employment tribunal: “The application of the EJRA was unjustified and my dismissal unfair. I did not wish to retire.”
Professor Maggie Snowling, president of the college, said: “A decision not to allow John to work beyond his EJRA is not to question the work that he has done.
“It is a proportionate means of ensuring increasing diversity and inter-generational fairness.”
The tribunal continues.