Sacked radio presenter, 61, claims age discrimination

Published on Monday 22 June 2009 22:52

A 61-YEAR-OLD radio presenter is claiming age discrimination after he was axed by a Scottish radio station and replaced by a younger man.

Jack Bennie is taking West Sound to an employment tribunal, claiming age discrimination and unfair dismissal. He is seeking a redundancy payment.

Mr Bennie said he was summoned to a meeting with station controller James Plu on 17 March and told his services were to be terminated.

Mr Bennie's show was taken over by Kevin Devine, a former presenter on the BBC consumer show That's Life.

Mr Bennie said yesterday: "There was no reason to sack me, I had never been disciplined and I had never turned up late."

The presenter, from Clydebank, who had been with West Sound since 2004, worked 30 hours a week, earning 330.

The Ayrshire station said in a statement: "We freshened up our schedules in April and as a result decided to replace Jack Bennie's show. We are aware that Jack has sought legal advice over the cancellation of his contract but we cannot comment further until the issue is resolved.''