Calling Colleagues "Old" Over IT Skills is Not Age Discrimination

Referring to colleagues as "old" if they struggle with computers does not amount to age discrimination, an employment judge has ruled.

The decision arose from a case brought by Farah Janjua, 39, who said a younger colleague told her her lack of IT skills was "because you're old". Ms Janjua claimed the remark, made by sales manager Nawaz Salauddin, who is in his late 20s, constituted age discrimination.

Ms Janjua brought legal action against her former employer, Harvey Jones Ltd, a kitchen supplier, after she was dismissed from her role as a sales designer at the end of her probation period.

However, her claims were rejected by Judge Naomi Shastri-Hurst at an employment tribunal, which found that attributing a colleague's lack of technical knowledge to age did not, in this case, meet the legal threshold for discrimination.

The tribunal in Reading heard that Ms Janjua began working at the company's Marlow, Buckinghamshire, showroom in July 2022. The incident in question occurred when Mr Salauddin demonstrated how to add attachments to a document by taking control of her mouse. After Ms Janjua said she did not know this was possible, he responded: "Cos you're old."

The tribunal concluded that Mr Salauddin would have made the same comment to anyone older than him and that it was not directed specifically at Ms Janjua because she was 39.

Evidence showed that Ms Janjua was dismissed in December 2022 due to performance concerns, after which she initiated legal proceedings in January 2023.

In her ruling, Judge Shastri-Hurst said that a lack of technical knowledge is often, rightly or wrongly, associated with age. She accepted that the exchange took place as described but found that, based on the evidence of Mr Salauddin's behaviour and character, the comment was part of an attempt to assert authority rather than an act of age-based discrimination.

The judge dismissed the age discrimination claim in full. Claims of direct race discrimination, direct sex discrimination, sexual harassment, harassment related to sex, and victimisation were also rejected.

PM Law