Lidl construction consultant unfairly dismissed

The supermarket chain was ordered to pay thousands of pounds in compensation

A senior construction consultant for Lidl who was told he was "marked down" for not having a degree during a redundancy process was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled.

Wayne Norman worked for the supermarket chain in Doncaster overseeing the building and refurbishment of regional stores before being made redundant in March 2023.

At the point of his dismissal he was 63 years old, had been employed by Lidl for just under 23 years and had undertaken around 77 construction projects, the tribunal in Sheffield heard.

In a remedy judgement published on Friday, Lidl was ordered to pay him £50,926 in compensation.

Mr Norman was first told of proposed redundancies in January 2023 after which he discovered he was among three construction consultants up for redundancy with only one role available as part of the restructure.

The other two consultants were both in their 30s.

After learning one of them had been successful in securing the job, Mr Norman's line manager, Liam Schofield, informed him he had been "marked down for not having 'relevant construction qualifications' in that you do not have a construction degree'", the tribunal heard.

Mr Norman's argument that those in their 60s were "less likely" to have a degree than those in their 30s was accepted by the tribunal, which ruled the inclusion of having a degree or construction qualification as part of the redundancy selection criteria amounted to indirect age discrimination.

In a written ruling, employment judge Neil Maidment said Mr Norman had felt "discredited" because he did not have a degree and "punished" for the fact he had grown up on a Welsh council estate without the opportunity to attend university.

Mr Schofield's evidence was not "wholly consistent" regarding the significance of a qualification or degree during the redundancy process, the tribunal ruled.

Of the effects of the redundancy on Mr Norman, Judge Maidment said he had suffered some "clear psychological damage" and at one point had suicidal ideations.

The tribunal ruled the "failure to conduct a reasonable process of consultation" was sufficient enough to render the dismissal unfair, and while the respondent had set up a "potentially fair" scoring and criteria method the tribunal could not conclude it was "fairly and reasonably" applied in Mr Norman's case.

The ruling noted the amount awarded for unfair dismissal had been reduced by 50% to reflect the chance the claimant would have been fairly dismissed in any event.

Mr Norman's complaint of direct age discrimination failed as the tribunal accepted he had been selected for redundancy based on an assessment of his "abilities unrelated to age".

His further claim of age-related harassment also failed.

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