Most age discrimination claims involve employees claiming they have been treated unfairly because they are too old. Now, a 14-year-old schoolgirl has become Britain's youngest winner of an age discrimination claim after she was sacked for being too young.

In December 2019, Hazel Cassidy did a trial shift at the café at an equestrian centre owned by the Daimler Foundation Limited based in Ayrshire, Scotland. The Employment Tribunal panel heard she had given her age when she applied for the role and filled in forms that included her date of birth.

Miss Cassidy was under the impression she had passed her trial shift – manager Malcolm Easy told her he was pleased with her and gave her another shift. But on her second shift she was sent home early, with the explanation that the café was quiet. She later received a call from Mr Easy to say he “enjoyed working with her” but she was being sacked as the accountant had said she was too young for “health and safety reasons”.

At the Tribunal, the teenager told the panel she felt “shocked, upset and distressed” as she had been “enjoying” her new Saturday job. The company went on to claim she was sacked because the “role was too demanding”. But the panel ruled there was no evidence of high demand - Miss Cassidy had been sent home because the café was quiet.

The Tribunal, which was held remotely, found she was the victim of direct discrimination (defined as less favourable treatment of someone who has a protected characteristic, such as age). The judge praised Miss Cassidy for the way she presented herself at the hearing.

The judgment said:

"Miss Cassidy gave her evidence clearly, candidly, and calmly, whilst still someone who is very young to be appearing before an Employment Tribunal as both witness and claimant. The Tribunal considered her to be a credible and reliable witness. It was obvious to the Tribunal that Miss Cassidy was a young girl, and that would have been more obvious to Mr Easy in December 2019 when she had relatively recently turned 14. Age does not need to be the only reason for the dismissal, nor the principal reason, but only one that is above the trivial or minor.”

Miss Cassidy was awarded £2,800.