A MAN who was told he should “go and find a job at B&Q” has won £6,800 in a case against his ex-boss.

An employment tribunal this morning found (October 7) Brian Smith was unfairly dismissed on the grounds of age discrimination from his job at Bennetts of London in Wanstead High Street.

Mr Smith, of Karen Terrace, Leytonstone, took his case to the tribunal in May after his former boss Veronica Bennett made the "offensive and personal" remarks and dismissed him from his job at the gift shop after 10 years of service.

See more: Man claims he was sacked because boss wanted 'younger blood'

Employment Judge Brown found Mrs Bennett treated the 75-year-old “unfavourably” in comparison with his younger colleagues.

She said this was “unanimously” proved when Mrs Bennett failed to tell Mr Smith when the shop had reopened after its 2015 summer refurbishment, tried to cut his hours in half, and finally made him redundant without notice on March 20 this year.

Mrs Bennett was also found to have breached Mr Smith’s contract by not paying him or offering him any working hours between September 2015 and March 2016.

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She said: “Mr Smith was a helpful, dedicated and approachable employee.

“He did not contribute to his dismissal and Mrs Bennett’s claims he did not know where things were in the shop are highly unlikely after 10 years of working there.”

She added Mrs Bennett’s behaviour towards Mr Smith was “wounding and humiliating” and that it was “hard to imagine a dismissal more unfair.”

After he realised he was no longer listed on the rota at Bennetts in September 2015, Mr Smith was signed off work sick, which his witness statement claims was because of “work-related stress”.

He said: “I developed a cough so I went to the doctor, and went back a second time because I found it very unusual to be so unwell.

“I didn’t feel right at all.”

Mr Smith was then referred to a therapist, who he saw for around six weeks.

He added: “I couldn’t sleep – I kept waking up at 2, 3 and 4am thinking, thinking and thinking.

“I was worried about not being able to work and falling behind on my rent and council tax payments.”

Mr Smith said he only started to feel better in January, when he sought help from Citizens’ Advice Bureau about his work situation.

Judge Brown rejected Mr Smith’s other claims Mrs Bennett told him she wanted “new blood” in the shop, but believes she did not offer him enough alternative work when trying to cut his hours.

Mr Smith added he has not looked for work at B&Q and will be paid a total of £6,822.23 by Mrs Bennett.