A senior lawyer has accused top legal firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer of age discrimination amounting to £4.5 million.
The continuing landmark case centres upon Peter Bloxham’s claim that he was put under ’emotional pressure’ to retire as a partner and accept a smaller pension whilst also working for the firm in the lesser role as consultant.
Reported in the Times, Bloxham, the former head of insolvency for Freshfields, claims that significant changes to the pension system forced him to retire early. He said the changes, which would have led to his pension being cut by 20 per cent if he did not agree to retire, were unlawful because they affected people differently according to their age.
Freshfields, said the paper, defend their position and say that pension changes were approved by an overwhelming majority of Freshfields partners when it was put to a vote last year.
Dinah Rose, QC for the law firm, suggested to Bloxham that his claim was about money rather than discrimination.
“The amount [of a pension pot to be split among multiple partners] is finite,” Rose told Bloxham, “like a share of pie for each partner. This case is about how much pie you get, isn’t it?”
Bloxham also accuses the firm of rushing through pension changes without appropriate consultation.
