Dundee bar manager: I was sacked for being too young
- Published
Christi Hurrell was awarded £18,583 in compensation after being wrongfully dismissed
A 22-year-old Dundee bar manager who was fired for being "too young" said the experience "drove her to the ground".
Christi Hurrell was awarded £18,583 in compensation after a tribunal ruled she was wrongfully dismissed and discriminated against due to her age.
Ms Hurrell took legal action after being sacked in front of customers by Sportsterz owner Scott Townshend.
Mr Townshend was contacted by the BBC for comment but did not respond.
Ms Hurrell said she had just returned from holiday last August when she was dismissed.
She said: "My boss basically said to me, if he was a manager earning £500 a week he wouldn't be going on holiday for a week.
"He said I must be too young for the job, even after I'd been working for him for a year-and-a-half, which obviously took me by surprise as well.
"It came out of the blue with claims that the staff didn't listen to me due to my age, which wasn't really the case."
Ms Hurrell had worked at Sportsterz in Dundee for 18 months before she was sacked
Ms Hurrell said she was shocked and embarrassed at being dismissed.
She said: "It totally knocked my confidence, even going into the new job that I'm currently in.
"I didn't feel like I was actually capable of doing the job, which I knew I was able to."
Ms Hurrell said she feared she would lose her home as a result of the incident.
She said: "A few days after I was sacked I was due to move into the flat I'm currently in.
"I had to borrow quite a significant amount of money from my friends and family. It kind of drove me to the ground."
Solicitor Ryan Russell said it was not only older people who were discriminated against because of their age
The employment tribunal ruled, external in Ms Hurrell's favour in February.
No-one from Townshend Bars Ltd attended and the company was not represented at the hearing.
Ms Hurrell has not yet received any of the compensation awarded.
She said: "It feels good, not only for myself, but hopefully to encourage other people that if this happens to them to have the confidence to actually do this."
Solicitor Ryan Russell, head of employment law at MML, the firm which represented Ms Hurrell, said: "I think there's a common misconception that only older people claim age discrimination.
"This case was an interesting reminder that no matter what age you are, people can be subjected to unlawful discrimination, which has been found by the tribunal."