A NEW Quay shop manager was the “subject of discrimination and harassment because of her age”, a tribunal has ruled, after she was called an “old woman” who was “set in her ways” by her boss.

Janet Witt, who was the manager of the shop at the award-winning New Quay Honey Farm, was handed a £17,000 pay-out by judges at an employment tribunal in Cardiff after she was found to have been “victimised” by boss Sam Cooper.

Mrs Witt, who is in her 70s, had worked at the shop since 2002, working alongside Mr Cooper’s parents who were at the time running the honey farm.

She lodged the complaint in December 2019 after becoming “frustrated” at the “management style” of Mr Cooper, who took over the running of the honey farm from his mother in 2015.

The tribunal heard Mrs Witt accused Mr Cooper of treating her unfairly after discovering she was being paid £1-an-hour less than the man who ran the tea shop next door.

The tribunal heard she had approached Mr Cooper in his office on 16 August 2019 to say her pay was “unfair” and called for equality.

Mr Cooper was angry in his response, the tribunal heard, and Mrs Witt left.

Mr Cooper then confronted Mrs Witt and “shouted that she was behaving like a child” and had lost his temper.

Mrs Witt left the honey farm to get into her car as Mr Cooper carried on shouting and swore at her, the tribunal found, before he made a V sign at Mrs Witt while she drove away.

The tribunal heard that Mrs Witt was considering going to the police over the incident, but decided not to and returned to work on 20 August, to find someone else had been offered her job.

Mr Cooper said he believed that Mrs Witt had resigned.

Another confrontation between the pair saw Mr Cooper describe her as an “old woman”.

“His view was that [Mrs Witt] was a person resistant to change and set in her ways,” the tribunal found.

Mrs Witt, who the tribunal heard responded by calling Mr Cooper a “fool”, then left the farm, believing herself to have been fired.

The tribunal found that Mr Cooper “had formed a clear view” that Mrs Witt “would not return” to work and that “securing another person to undertake the role of shop manager” made it “clear” Mrs Witt was dismissed.

The tribunal was heard in Cardiff on 11 to 13 January, with the full decision judgement released last week.

The unanimous judgement of the tribunal was that Mrs Witt was unfairly dismissed, and was the subject of harassment because of her age.

The tribunal also ruled that Mrs Witt was “victimised” as a result of making allegations to Mr Cooper over pay equality, but dismissed her claim for equal pay, ruling that she was “not undertaking ‘like work’.

The tribunal awarded Mrs Witt £16,943 in compensation, including £6,000 for “injury to feelings in respect of the discrimination and harassment”.