14 July 2022 | 11:30 am.

Citi Group won part of his appeal in a discrimination suit filed by a former banker who was fired after being called “old” at 55.

niels kirkthe managing director of Citigroup’s energy banking desk, won an unfair dismissal lawsuit against the bank in 2020, for which he received nearly 2.7 million euros ($3.2 million).

However, the court of appeal great Britain ordered that the case be retrial, arguing that the labor court needed to reconsider whether dismissal This is due to age discrimination.

This is given the relatively small age difference between Kirk and his 51-year-old colleague.

Kirk, who has worked at the bank for 26 years, received the payment after a judge ruled he had received no warning about the proposed restructuring.

Kirk’s attorney argued that he had been a victim of discriminatory commentseven when one of his bosses, Manolo Falco, told him he was “too old and likes his quirks”.

Although Falco denied the comments, the leading judge noted that the court considered the comments “are the kind of opinion a (Falco) manager can make.”

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Citi attorney’s appeal decision

Citigroup’s attorneys appealed the decision to the Court of Employment Appeals, arguing that Kirk could not be discriminated against on the basis of agebecause a 51-year-old colleague, only a few years his junior, was assigned to head the department.

They also said the court did not properly consider that Falco and the rest of the team considered themselves to be “the same age or in the same age range” as Kirk.

In this sense, they assume that this approach makes ageism is “unreasonable” or “fancy”.

For their part, the appellate judge ruled that the lower court did not give due consideration to proof of cit on the comparison between the ages of Kirk and co, according to the decision quoted by Bloomberg announced on Tuesday.

A Citi spokesperson said he was “satisfied” with the decision cancel that dismissal is discriminatory on the basis of age.

While at the bank, Kirk earned £937,000 in 2014, which was later reduced to £535,000 in 2016, according to court documents. Meanwhile, Leigh Day, the law firm representing Kirk, declined to comment.

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With information from Bloomberg