Lidl Ordered to Pay £51K for Age Bias in Redundancy Criteria

Wayne Norman, a 63-year-old senior construction consultant at Lidl with nearly 23 years of service, was awarded £50,926 by a tribunal after being unfairly dismissed in a redundancy round due to lacking a construction degree. The tribunal found that the redundancy selection criteria, which prioritized having a degree or relevant construction qualifications, amounted to indirect age discrimination, as older employees like Norman were less likely to have such degrees compared to younger colleagues in their 30s. Norman had overseen around 77 construction projects before being made redundant in March 2023, losing out to a younger consultant who held the required qualifications. His line manager admitted Norman was "marked down" for not having a construction degree, which led to feelings of being "discredited" and "punished" for his background growing up on a Welsh council estate with limited access to university education. Employment Judge Neil Maidment highlighted the psychological impact on Norman, who believed hard work and experience would be respected but instead faced discrimination. The ruling criticized the inconsistency in the employer's justification for the redundancy criteria and emphasized the unfair treatment Norman endured due to his age and educational background.