A schoolgirl has been awarded £2,800 by an employment tribunal after being sacked because she was too young.
Hazel Cassidy was 14 when she took on a waitressing job with the Daimler Foundation equestrian centre near Kilmarnock.
She only worked two shifts with the company before being told they would have to let her go because of her age. The teenager had provided her date of birth and national insurance details when she applied for the job. She has now won her case for age discrimination at an employment tribunal.
Employment judge Alexander Kemp stated: “The present case is an unusual one, in that the claimant was employed for two days only for what was a Saturday job, when a 14 year old schoolgirl.”
He added: “The claim of direct discrimination on the protected characteristic of the age of the claimant by the first respondent under section 13 of the Equality Act 2010 succeeds.”
The tribunal heard that Ms Cassidy began working for the firm in December 2019.
She was hired to work four hours on a Saturday in the equestrian centre café.
However, during her second shift, she was told by the owner’s partner that she should not work the till.
A few days later she received a call from owner Malcolm Easy to say that she was sacked.
A judgment on the case states: “He said he had enjoyed working with her however she could not continue to work there as the accountant said that she was too young for health and safety reasons.
“He said that she had not done anything wrong but that the accountant said that she could not work there.”
Mr Easy tried to claim that he was unaware of Ms Cassidy’s age when he hired her, but the tribunal rejected this, stating that it was “obvious” that she was a young girl.
The teen was awarded £2,500, with a further £300 in interest.
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