Mr Grimes v Tango Networks UK Ltd and 1 other — 2022

The claimant applied for a Channel Account Manager role with Tango Networks UK Ltd on an on-target earnings package of about £100,000 per year. He was 57 at the relevant time. The second respondent played a key part in recruitment. The claimant had a pre-application discussion, was then interviewed, and was put through to a second interview with Mr Humble. He was one of three candidates at that stage, but was ranked third and did not proceed further.

The tribunal rejected the claimant's case that the second respondent had expressed age-related hostility after a reported telephone conversation with Mr Jones. It found Mr Jones was not a credible witness and preferred the second respondent's account. The tribunal found that the claimant had not established facts from which direct age discrimination could be inferred. It also found that the respondents had explained the selection outcome by reference to the other candidates' stronger fit, in particular their more specific mobile telephony background, and that the offers made to the final two candidates were on the basis of merit regardless of age.

On indirect age discrimination, the tribunal found there was no evidence of any policy, criterion or practice of appointing candidates from age groups younger than the claimant. It held that the claimant had not shown facts from which such a PCP could be inferred. Alternatively, if that were wrong, the tribunal found the respondents had shown that the appointments were made on merit regardless of age. The claimant's reliance on a later Channel Account Manager vacancy was rejected as not relevant to the claim.