Q. I am 55 years old and work as a work as a sales rep for a sports company. My work colleagues often make fun of me, calling me Granddad and saying that I am too old to use the equipment I sell. I am offended by this and wonder if I have any legal protection?
A. Your employer is under a duty to protect you from bullying and intimidation at work and this will be strengthened on 1 st October 2006 when new age regulations come into force which make discrimination and harassment on grounds of age unlawful. If they do not protect you from this you will be able to bring a claim.
Q. What is required to make a claim under the new law?
A. You must show that you were subjected to unwanted conduct on grounds of age which violated your dignity or created an intimidating, hostile, humiliating or offensive environment for you, and that you reasonably took offence at the conduct.
Q. Who would I claim against?
A. You could claim against the person who was harassing you and/or your employer. If your employer does not introduce a policy for dealing with harassment and discrimination on the grounds of age then they will be vulnerable to claims in the future.
Patterson, Glenton & Stracey have 125 years experience of providing legal services to the people of South Tyneside. Advice in this column is for information only and should not be used as the basis of legal action. Please refer to their web site at www.pgslaw.co.uk for further information or contact Paul Hargreaves for Employment advice on 0808 2317043.
