Compensation claims for ageism soar

Official statistics have revealed that claims for compensation from employers concerning ageism have tripled in the past year.

According to the Tribunal Service, where there were only 962 claims for ageism made in 2006, nearly 3,000 claims were made in 2007.

These figures have been released just as the high profile case of Selina Scott against Channel Five culminated in a settlement rumoured to be worth £250,000.

57 year old Selina Scott claimed that she had been a victim of ageism when she was led to believe that she would take over Natasha Kaplinsky’s presenting role while the younger star left on maternity leave.

However, when it came to it, Ms Scott was overlooked in favour of hiring two younger presenters to share the high profile presenting cover for Mrs Kaplinsky.

When Ms Scott launched the claim, she drew keen support from a number of former BBC well known faces who agreed that television was guilty of favouring the young for high profile roles.

Those affected appeared to be mainly women, with those offering their support to Ms Scott including Kate Adie and Anna Ford, with Dame Joan Bakewell saying that the media was dominated by the 'hideously young'.

Ford claims that this tendency to sideline mature ladies was a peculiarly British failing, saying that: 'In America, there are women with white hair who are heads of banks, heads of corporations,' and demanding: 'Where are those women here?'

Legislation concerning age discrimination was only introduced three years ago and solicitors predict that the number of age related compensation case will rise steadily over the next few years.

Since the law was introduced the number of age discrimination claims have trickled in, but should begin to increase dramatically as Melanie Thomas, a solicitor at discrimination law specialists Palmer Wade, says: 'It takes a while for people to understand that they have new rights.'

The high profile nature of the Selina Scott case will also go some way to bringing the issue into the public eye and will perhaps encourage a new wave of claims.

Official figures show that there were 1,032 age discrimination claims in tribunals between April and June, compared with 700 claims in the same period last year. In 2007, the average payout for successful age discrimination cases was £8,695, compared with £10,044 for sex discrimination and £17,308 for race claims.

Meanwhile, some people have tried to exploit the laws to their own advantage. Margaret Keane, 50, deliberately applied for a series of jobs for 'recently qualified' chartered accountants and, after failing to get any, started compensation claims on the grounds of age discrimination.

Gillian Shaw, a solicitor at employment law specialists Ledingham Chalmers LLP, said: 'There is a financial incentive for claimants to look for an alternative to a straightforward claim of, say, unfair dismissal because age discrimination, like sex and race discrimination, does not have an upper limit on the amount of compensation that can be claimed.'

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