Worker ‘labelled old git by boss' sues for age discrimination
Ashok Ahir claimed that his age led his colleagues at a high street jewellery company to doubt his ability to carry out his job, which included physically counting the jewellery items in the company's inventory.
Mr Ahir alleged that Jeremy Hinds, retail director and part of the family who began the business, called him an 'old git' while the pair were having dinner after work.
The assistant then resigned the following year after being offered either a month's notice or a demotion because of his inability to do 'relatively simple tasks', the panel heard.
Dismissed claims
The tribunal found that he could not prove the remarks had been made and dismissed his claims of direct discrimination entirely.
The hearing, held in Watford, was told that Mr Ahir began working for F Hinds jewellery company as an internal audit assistant in September 2022.
He turned 60 in 2023 and was receiving 'on-the-job training' for his new role.
In March 2023, Mr Ahir claimed that after mentioning his ex-girlfriend owned a convertible Mazda, Mr Hinds, in his thirties at the time, said 'Ash you old git' while the pair were having dinner.
'Belittling' comment
The assistant auditor told the tribunal he was 'shocked, offended, and humiliated' by the 'belittling' comment.
He added that he did not feel he could speak up about the alleged incident at the time because Mr Hinds was a director and he feared putting his job 'in jeopardy'.
At the tribunal, Mr Hinds denied commenting and said Mr Ahir had not raised it during an internal grievance process.
The line manager also told the hearing that the incident had not been reported to him, despite the assistant auditor claiming he had raised it.
In September 2023, Mr Ahir claimed a similar incident took place when a colleague kept telling him he was 'old' on the way back from a job.
'Genuine concern'
However, Judge Daley once again found that there was not enough evidence for Mr Ahir to prove that this comment was made.
The tribunal found that the company's performance worries came from 'genuine concern' and had no link to Mr Ahir's age.
Judge Monica Daley found she could not be satisfied that the remark had been made and dismissed Mr Ahir's claim.
She said: 'The Tribunal carefully considered the evidence as set out in Jeremy Hinds' notes; it noted that there was no record of this having been reported at the time.
'The remark was not included in the original grievance, and [Mr Ahir's line manager] denies that the remark had been reported to him.
'Having considered all the evidence, the Tribunal could not be satisfied that the remark had been made on a balance of probabilities.'
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