A 59-year-old employee of local radio station Tipp FM who was told by her boss "radio is for young people" and forced to retire on her 60th birthday, has been awarded £10,000 in an Employment Appeals Tribunal ruling.
The tribunal ruled that Ms Patricia Corbett, who worked as bookkeeper at the station, could reasonably expect to work until she was 65 years old, as her employer had provided no written contract of employment.
The ruling states that the attempt by the managing director of Tipp FM, Mr John O'Connell, to force Ms Corbett to retire was a breach of contract and amounted to unfair dismissal.
In her evidence to the tribunal, heard in May and November 1999, Ms Corbett said she felt Mr O'Connell and the financial controller of the station, Ms Adrienne Barlowe, were aggressive to her. She told the tribunal that she got no wage increases in January 1995 and January 1996 and that had caused her distress.
She said her employers had used three methods to terminate her employment: no wage increases, hostility and a proposed retirement package.
Mr O'Connell said the decision to retire people at 60 years of age was made "under a loose discussion" at a meeting in a hotel in Thurles in 1996. He said he decided wage increases and applied national wage agreements.