Carcraft Practice Age Discrimination and lose in Court.

[Conniff]

Payout for used car salesman, 52, fired for being ‘too old’

 

A used car salesman thrown on the scrapheap because of his age has won a multi-thousand pound payout.

 

Gary Hawkins, 52, took legal action against the Black Country motor dealership Carcraft where he worked as manager after complaining he’d been told there were too many miles on his bodyclock.

 

Speaking after a Birmingham employment tribunal backed his claim of age discrimination, he said: “I have struck a blow for middle aged men and women everywhere.”

And the Sutton Coldfield businessman, who has a four-year-old daughter, laughed: “I didn’t even know I wasn’t part of the youth culture until they got rid of me.”

 

He is remaining tight-lipped over the scale of the payout, but admitted it ran into thousands.

At an earlier hearing, Gary said bosses at CC Automotive Group Ltd, which trades in Wednesbury as Carcraft, told him bluntly his career with the business was over because of his age.

 

The company denied ageism and claimed the employee had failed to motivate his team and had not trained them properly.

 

The firm’s “pressurised environment” was outlined to the Birmingham hearing.

Gary said two managers were sacked in one day by a boss, while another resigned.

The boss had been on “a high following the sackings,” he said. “He was looking for another to be dismissed. The third to be dismissed was me.”

 

Gary insisted he was shown the door because of his age and had earlier been told: “You are too old at 52.”

He denied his showroom performance had been shoddy and stressed there were regular team meetings, where ways of improving sales were discussed, along with training techniques.

 

The company alleged there had been issues over a “number count” of customers and sales logs.

Other roles had been offered to Gary, the tribunal heard, but he refused a move.

The firm admitted, however, heads had rolled, with others losing their jobs.

 

Tribunal judge Peter Rose QC asked the ages of other managers, past and present. Gary had been the oldest in his field, it emerged.

He has since gained a new job as a manager in the car sales industry.

 

His delighted wife Heather, aged 48, said: “Gary’s definitely not over the hill. He has three daughters and a son and they keep him on his toes.

“Really, the whole thing has done him a good turn because he’s now got the best job in the world.

 

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Perhaps he could come here and give us the low down on this gutter company.