NHS applicant, 50, wins discrimination payout

 

The hearing, which was held in Croydon, south London, was told that Mr McClements was interviewed in July 2018 for the £40,000-per-year project manager role. It involved helping the National Health Service adapt technology faster.

 

The candidates prospective boss told Mr McClements, who is a father of two, that he was unsuccessful because she felt uncomfortable giving instructions to someone old enough to have an 11-year-old daughter.

 

During his interview presentation, using visual aids including a backpack featuring characters from the Despicable Me films the interview panel asked "will you be a minion?" and queried if he was willing "to work for others that were younger than him".

 

The hearing was told that after the interview the team, who are predominantly female and aged in their 30's, questioned whether Mr McClements was too senior, too experienced, and discussed how he was "very different" and "nothing like" the young woman who he would be replacing. Consequently they selected a much younger, female, candidate instead.

 

Led by Judge Tony Hyams Paris, the panel ruled that Mr McClements was a victim of "conscious and subconscious bias". They concluded that the women, whose social media profiles were "of a feminist or gender equality theme", looked to "choose a candidate that was more like them", and ordered the trust to pay him £7,580.14 in compensation.

 

The tribunal concluded: "Their focus on finding a person who was the 'best fit' led them to take into account factors which were discriminatory. "We did not think [they] fully appreciated that the danger in going down that path was that they would be more inclined to choose a candidate that was more like them."

 

Mr McClements is now the chief executive at health charity Haemochromatosis UK.

 

London Solicitors