Redundancy before age 55: LGPS pension claim dismissed

In Henley v Thurrock Council, the Employment Tribunal dismissed age discrimination claims brought by an employee made redundant shortly before his 55th birthday, who consequently missed out on an immediate unreduced LGPS pension. Although the council knew that a later dismissal would trigger pension strain costs exceeding £350,000, the tribunal found that the redundancy timetable had not been accelerated because of his age. It also held that any discrimination would have been justified, given the pressing need to secure restructuring savings and protect frontline services, and the absence of procedural corner-cutting.

A copy of the tribunal’s decision can be found here.