Supreme Court Looks At Indirect Age Discrimination

In Homer v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, which was heard alongside Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes, the Supreme Court considered the scope of indirect age discrimination.

Mr Homer retired from the police at age 51, and began work for the Police National Legal Database (PNLD) as a legal adviser. When he was appointed in 1995, a law degree was not essential if the post holder had exceptional experience in criminal law and a lesser qualification in law. Mr Homer did not have a law degree, but met the criteria because of his experience and exams passed in the police force.

In 2005, a new career structure was introduced to improve retention, consisting of three thresholds with increasing pay levels. In order to reach the third threshold, an employee had to have a law degree. Mr Homer met the criteria for the first and second thresholds but was not accepted for the third threshold as he had no law degree. By that time, he was aged 62 and undertaking a law degree would have taken him beyond his normal retirement age of 65. He claimed indirect age discrimination in that he had been subject to a provision, criterion or practice which put employees of...