Age Discrimination

In 2 recent cases the European Court of Justice looked at issues of age discrimination and found that in some circumstances it might be justify to discriminate on grounds of age.

In the first case, Wolf (Social policy) [2010] EUECJ C-229/08, The European Court of Justice ruled in certain circumstances age discrimination could be justified where the employer can show evidence that physical fitness was an essential requirement in carrying out the tasks at hand. In this case the European Court of Justice ruled in favour of the German fire service which required all its applicants to be under the age of 30.

This was on the basis that fire-fighters were involved in activities of fire fighting and rescue and that the physical fitness of its applicants was an essential element of carrying out their duties. The European Court of Justice therefore decided that the imposition of the age limit was a proportionate measure.

In the second case, Petersen (Social policy) [2010] EUECJ C-341/08
the court made a preliminary ruling that a maximum age limit of 68 for dentists working in publicly funded practice is potentially justified as a means of providing opportunities for younger dentists to find work in the health service. Interestingly, the court ruled that it would not have been acceptable to set the age limit on the grounds of protection of public health. This was because in private practices there was not an age limit for working dentists.