Offering a seat to an older worker is ‘discriminatory’

GIVING a seat to an older colleague at work could count as age discrimination, an employment judge has ruled.

Being given the opportunity to sit while younger staff stay standing up may amount to “less favourable treatment”.

Sued

The ruling came in the case of a 66-year-old recycling plant operative who sued for discrimination after a colleague asked if he wanted to sit down during his shift.

Filipe Edreira, who believed his employers were trying to force him to leave, claimed he was being singled out as no one else there used chairs.

His claim was dismissed as the tribunal found colleagues were concerned about his health but it did agree the move was “unwanted conduct” that could have been discriminatory.

Employment Judge David Faulkner said: “Given that we found it was an unusual thing to do, in our judgment [Mr Edreira] could legitimately conclude that he was being treated differently to others and therefore disadvantageously.”

The Birmingham tribunal heard Mr Edreira worked for Severn Waste Services’ processing site in Worcester from 2006 until he was let go last October.

He turned 66 in 2021 and wanted to work for another 18 months.

In a July 2022 email, Mr Edreira, who had to avoid heavy lifting due to surgery, said he had heard that bosses were “encouraging people to retire at 66”.

Dismissed

Last July he went off sick and subsequently was dismissed.

Mr Edreira, now 68, sued for age discrimination and harassment, claiming the company had tried to force him out after he reached 66. However, the tribunal rejected his case. Of the chair claim, the judge said Mr Edreira’s boss Idris Buraimoh had been concerned with his health, not his age.

He said: “We concluded on balance that chairs were not routinely offered to employees in or around May 2022.

“We were told that Mr Buraimoh does not know why he offered the chair, but we thought that what was a much more likely explanation for the change of practice in this regard, namely that Mr Buraimoh had become aware of [his health condition] … and offered the chair for that reason.”