Chris Ball, Chief Executive of TAEN -The Age and Employment Network says:
The Court's decision is a set-back to our fight to tackle and outlaw age discrimination.
The fact that it is lawful to force someone into retirement at the age of 65 undermines the fact that it is unlawful to discriminate based on age in the workplace.î
The imposition of the Default Retirement Age of 65 makes futile the Government's other exhortations for people to work longer to avoid a more impoverished old age - and the principle at the heart of the original European Directive of banning discrimination on the grounds of age.
When the case comes back to the high court in London, one wonders how the government will attempt to justify its position in relation to the Equal Treatment Directive.*
Given the overwhelming need to keep demand and purchasing power in the economy, it makes no sense to 'fire' people who are willing to work and spend their earnings at the present time.
Clearly the fight against the arbitrary injustice of forced retirement of fit, capable people must go on.
TAEN's response to the European Court of Justice's ruling on the Default Retirement Age
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