Tribunal: No Need to Revisit Argument over Firefighter Mandatory Retirement

A firefighter forced to retire at age 60 sued the city for age discrimination. We’ve already had this discussion, argued the city, pointing to a case called the Espey decision finding that mandatory retirement at age 60 for firefighters is justifiable as a bona fide occupational requirement (BFOR) because of the cardiac risks posed to firefighters at that age. The Tribunal agreed and threw out the case. This was the exact same issue decided in Espey and there was no evidence to suggest that the result would be different this time around. So it would be pointless to let the case continue, the Tribunal concluded [Gill v. City of Hamilton, [2012] HRTO 1506 (CanLII), Aug. 1, 2012].

To Find Out More about Mandatory Retirement & Age Discrimination

• Why mandatory retirement isn’t really dead