Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer was accused of “inter-generational unfairness” by ex-partner Peter Bloxham, who took the stand yesterday (10 July) in an age discrimination claim against his former firm, worth £4.5m.
The 54-year-old retiree complained to the tribunal about the way he was treated at the hands of Freshfields in a deal which saw his pension drawings cut by 20% when the firm phased in a new pensions plan. He says the new pension scheme “forced” him to retire six months earlier than he otherwise would have done.
Bloxham, the firm’s ex-restructuring head, also disputed Freshfields’ assertion it had offered him a convincing consultancy package as an alternative to leaving the firm, alleging his options were never clearly set out.
Bloxham also criticised the speed with which he had to make decisions and inform his clients, saying: “There were couple of matters on which I was advising which were especially complex and long-standing and where I felt in particular that the clients could legitimately consider that I and the respondent were letting them down.”
The tribunal also heard the firm had considered a number of ways of restructuring the pensions scheme. At one stage it proposed measuring partner contribution through a system that would name some partners as ‘super heroes’. These partners would then be gifted a consultancy package equivalent to full equity pay in a bid to keep them at the firm. The partners were arbitration partner Jan Paulsson, former litigation chief Ian Taylor and tax partner Richard Ballard.
A group of senior partners, dubbed the Grey Panthers, opposed the Deloitte-structured pension reforms, instead putting forward their own scheme – which was rejected by the partnership committee. As the sole witness for the claimants, Bloxham is facing a line of heavyweight defence witnesses led by managing partner Peter Jeffcote, who is the primary witness.
Others are co-senior partner Guy Morton, chief executive Ted Burke, global finance head Perry Noble, London finance head Bob Charlton and Deloitte human capital partner Feargus Mitchell, who helped put together the scheme in a three-year process.
Bloxham chose to retire from the partnership on the cut-off date, taking a 20% cut in his pension as a result of retiring after 54, rather than the full entitlement age of 55. Bloxham is arguing Freshfields discriminated against him and that it failed to sufficiently consult on the issue.
Freshfields refutes these claims and in a statement the firm said: "This is all about fairness. Everyone – Peter Bloxham included – had to compromise on their future annuity rights, whatever their age."
The case continues.
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