Brexit Date Blocked Age Discrimination Claim
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that claimants who brought pensions-related age discrimination claims after 31 December 2020 cannot proceed because of Brexit.
What Is the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018?
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the Act) is one of the key pieces of legislation that solidified the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. It limits the circumstances in which domestic law may be challenged based on general EU law principles after 31 December 2020.
What Happened in This Claim?
The case of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Beattie and others relates to the ability of pension scheme members to bring historic age discrimination claims relating to pension rights.
Article 3(b) of the Equality Act (Age Exceptions for Pension Schemes) Order 2010 (the Order) exempts benefits in respect of pensionable service before 1 December 2006 from claims of age discrimination. The cut-off date of 1 December 2006 is the date the UK implemented the age discrimination provisions of the EU Equal Treatment Framework Directive (Directive).
Earlier this year, the Tribunal found that Article 3(b) of the Order was incompatible with the general principle of non-discrimination set out in the Directive. This raised the possibility that the floodgates could open to potential historic age discrimination claims in relation to pension payments.
The claimants in this case had all left pensionable service before 1 December 2006. They all had their pension reduced because they had not reached pensionable age when the Pension Protection Fund had carried out an assessment. They claimed this was age discrimination, contrary to the general principle of non-discrimination set out in the Directive.
What Did the EAT Decide?
The EAT has now held that all but two of the claimants cannot proceed, as they did not bring their claims before the Brexit implementation period ended on 31 December 2020. As the Directive had not been incorporated into UK law as part of the Act, the rights these claimants were pursuing were no longer available under UK law at the point they brought their claims.
The two claimants who brought claims before 31 December 2020 will be allowed to progress their claims at Tribunal. However, regardless of the outcome of any future decision, its future impact will be limited given that any would-be claimants would now also be out of time.