Mr K Gregory v Ministry of Defence — 2022

The claimant clarified that he did not bring an unfair dismissal claim. The remaining claim was direct age discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, arising from the rejection of his March 2020 application to join the Army Reserve when he was 52, on the basis that he had not applied before his 50th birthday.

The tribunal found that, on the face of the legislation, paragraph 4(3) of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010 excluded age discrimination claims relating to service in the armed forces. It considered whether section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 allowed the Equality Act to be read compatibly with Convention rights so as to permit the claim, but concluded that the armed forces age-discrimination exclusion was a fundamental feature of the legislation in this context.

The tribunal distinguished T v Ministry of Defence because that case concerned ex-service personnel and service complaints, whereas this case concerned entry into the Army Reserve, where the stated rationale of combat effectiveness was relevant. It therefore held that the claim had no reasonable prospect of success, struck it out and dismissed it, and did not decide the limitation issue or whether the claimant's Article 8 and Article 14 rights were engaged.