A labour hire and recruitment company in Australia has been fined AUD 29,000 (USD 21,668) in an age discrimination suit against a 70-year old prospective employee, as reported by People + Culture Strategies.

The man applied for a position at a company that provided construction, transport, and mining services. He was found to be suitable by one employee, who passed his details on to a second respondent; however, the second respondent noted that while he looked like a good fit, his age was a concern. A representative of the second respondent emailed the applicant to tell him he was unsuccessful in obtaining the role due to his age.

The court ruled that the second respondent had taken adverse action against the prospective employee because of his age, thus engaging in age discrimination. The manager of the second respondent had concerns that a man of that age would have trouble working in hot, unpleasant conditions as existed at the prospective work site. The manager used age as an independent consideration for refusing to hire the applicant, and the Federal Court decided that this was an example of serious discrimination.

In Australia, employers must have a legitimate justification for deciding whether to hire or not hire an applicant based on an applicant’s age.