Young chatty workers disturbing older colleagues ‘not age harassment’, tribunal rules

 

Older employees who are disturbed by younger, more boisterous colleagues in the workplace are not victims of age harassment, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Employees in their 20s and 30s may annoy more mature co-workers by chatting, socializing and looking at their phones but they are not breaking workplace equality rules, the tribunal said.

The ruling came in the case of Catherine Ritchie, an administrator in her late 60s who took her bosses to an employment tribunal for grievances including the noisy fun her younger co-workers were having while she was trying to get on with her job.

Ritchie said she found it difficult to watch “extreme time wasting and low productivity” from “noisy and boisterous” younger colleagues and was left with a pounding headache and a hoarse voice from having to talk loudly to make herself heard.

The tribunal in Watford, Hertfordshire, heard that Ritchie was 66 when she began working for an electrical engineering company and was the oldest person there.

In its summary of the case, the tribunal said Ritchie found the office a very noisy environment and that this was distracting when she was trying to make calls.

It said: “She indicated that she found it unprofessional of colleagues to engage in personal conversations in the office, when they ought to be working. She referred to the fact that they were not paid to socialize and that she had difficulty in watching such time wasting and low productivity.”

She felt she was not respected when she asked for quiet and asked a manager if she could work from home but this was not allowed. Ritchie was told by one manager that she should concentrate on reaching her targets and not concern herself with what was going on around her.

The tribunal said what she experienced did not amount to harassment.

“The tribunal considered that the claimant’s perception of the noisy and disruptive behavior as amounting to harassment was not reasonable.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/aug/19/young-chatty-workers-disturbing-older-ones-not-age-harassment-tribunal-rules

Comprehension

Who brought the case to the employment tribunal?
How old was Catherine Ritchie when she started working at the company?
What behavior of her younger colleagues disturbed her?
What physical effects did she say the noise caused her?
What did Ritchie request from her manager to help her work better?
Was she allowed to work from home? Why or why not?
What was the tribunal’s final ruling about her claim of harassment?
Why did the tribunal reject her complaint?

Discussion

Do you think the tribunal made the right decision? Why or why not?
How can age differences affect workplace relationships?
Should younger employees be more considerate of older colleagues in the office?
What are some respectful ways to handle noise in the workplace?
Do you think working from home should be an option for people who find the office environment too distracting?
In your country, is it common for older people to work with much younger colleagues?
What are the advantages of having both younger and older employees in the same workplace?
What are the disadvantages of age diversity in the office?
Do you think “being noisy” can be considered harassment? Why or why not?
How can managers balance fairness between younger and older employees?

Vocabulary

Tribunal – A special court or legal body that makes decisions about disputes.
Grievances – Complaints or problems that someone raises formally.
Boisterous – Noisy, energetic, and often disruptive.
Productivity – The amount of useful work someone completes in a certain time.
Harassment – Unwanted behavior that makes someone feel uncomfortable, upset, or intimidated.
Unprofessional – Not behaving in a proper or responsible way at work.
Time wasting – Spending time doing things that are not useful or important.
Reasonable – Fair, sensible, and based on good judgment