Oxford is making me retire so it can hire ‘diverse’ staff says professor, 69
AN OXFORD University professor claims he is being forced to retire after 40 years to help promote ‘diversity’.
professor John pitcher, 69, wanted to carry on working at the university’s st John’s College, where he specialises in the study of shakespearean, Elizabethan and Jacobean literature.
But he was told that he would have to retire in september 2016 when he was 67 because he had become too old, and was blighting the university’s drive towards ‘diversity’ and ‘inter-generational fairness’, an employment tribunal heard.
He was served with a notice under the Government’s Employer Justified Retirement age (EJRa) policy, introduced in 2011 after the default retirement age was scrapped.
professor pitcher managed to extend his employment to 2020 but was told he must step down then.
He is now claiming unfair dismissal on the grounds of age discrimination. He is seeking more than £102,000 in loss of earnings from both his college and university salary.
the college insists the retirement was necessary to ‘ safeguard the high standards’ of the university and to ‘refresh the workforce’.
the need for ‘ succession planning’ and ‘diversity’ were also used to justify the move, the tribunal heard.
a university official wrote to professor pitcher in 2014 with a notice of intended retirement date, and saying that it could be extended under EJRa.
a university panel met in January 2016, and he was sent a letter two months later stating that his employment would not be extended beyond september 2020. He appealed against that decision but it was confirmed. By 2016 he had worked at st John’s for more than 36 years.
in documents submitted to Watford Employment tribunal, professor pitcher said: ‘i believe that decision was discriminatory because of age and was not justified and was also unfair.
‘ Both the university and college admit that the policy of forced retirement through the EJRas is direct age discrimination but they argue that the policy is legally justified. i believe [their analysis] is flawed.
‘i believe all the university wished to do was maintain the status quo in respect of retirement dates from 2011.’
professor pitcher said that no other university from the elite Russell Group, except Cambridge, has retained a retirement age. ‘None of these other institutions have reduced their standards by not forcibly retiring staff,’ he said.
‘there is no evidence to support the need to “refresh” the academic workforce in terms of turnover. the university is effectively seeking to justify discrimination on the grounds of age to promote equality and diversity.
‘i fully accept the importance of equality and diversity. i am myself from a working- class background and the importance of these kinds of social aims weighs strongly with me.
‘i did not wish to retire, as i did not see the relevance of my age to my ability to carry out the duties of my post.’
But the college’s president professor Maggie snowling, who chaired the panel that made the decision to retire professor pitcher, said the move had helped bolster diversity.
in a witness statement, she said: ‘i believe the decision not to accept the application John made was the right one. a decision not to allow John to work beyond his EJRa is not to question any of the work that he has done.
‘the EJRa helped both the college and university take steps towards a more diverse academic body and will continue to do so. it is a proportionate means of ensuring increasing diversity and inter-generational fairness.’
at one stage professor pitcher, who lives in oxford, earned £83,000 a year for his roles as a fellow and English tutor, plus a housing allowance of £18,000.
the college argues that he still receives support such as paying below market rent at college accommodation, college lunches and dinners as well as having access to the library and a research allowance.
the tribunal continues today.