Telling 59-year-old she was better suited to a ‘traditional’ agency was age discrimination

An ET finds that a director’s comment to a 59-year-old employee that she would be “better suited to a traditional estate agency” amounted to direct age discrimination and harassment related to age.

In Gomes v 1. Winkworth Estate Agents 2. Gold,  Gomes (G), aged 59 was an administrative assistant. Gold, a director, queried errors in a letter G had typed. He said: “This marriage isn’t working”, that G would be “better suited to a traditional estate agency” and that G should “sleep on it and decide what she wanted to do”. She understood Gold to be saying it was time to leave. After unsuccessfully lodging a grievance, G resigned. An ET upheld G’ direct age discrimination claim, as the words, “better suited to a traditional estate agency”, was a reference to G’ age and the “traditional” comment would not have been said to a younger assistant. The ET also found that the comment amounted to harassment related to age because although Gold may not have intended to violate G’s dignity, that was the effect. G had also been constructively dismissed, as all the comments taken together made her feel unwanted and her grievance had not been conducted independently and fairly.


This update provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate court cases are reported, the information does not set out all of the facts, the legal arguments presented and the judgments made in every aspect of the case. Click on the links to access full details. If no link is provided, contact us for more information.  Employment law is subject to constant change either by statute or by interpretation by the courts. While every care has been taken in compiling this information, SM&B cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Specialist legal advice must be taken on any legal issues that may arise before embarking upon any formal course of action.

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