Woodcock v Cumbria Primary Care Trust: The Objective Justification Test for Age Discrimination

This note discusses the limits to the defence of objective justification when applied to direct age discrimination, specifically with regard to situations where the employer attempts to rely on cost-saving as a legitimate aim. The author examines the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (formerly the European Court of Justice, ECJ) on which this case relies, and considers whether the defence has been interpreted too widely, opening up the possibility of cost-saving as a defence to discrimination on the grounds of this particular protected characteristic. The note concludes that, while cost-saving cannot be the sole justification for less favourable treatment by employers, it may nevertheless form part of an overall legitimate aim when coupled with additional factors.