A former business manager of a primary school in Oldham has won a payout after an employment tribunal heard bosses 'accelerated' her dismissal just days before an extra pension entitlement.

Suzanne Millar had accumulated 25 years of service in Oldham schools, first at Oldham College and then Fir Bank Primary School.

Since 2004, Mrs Millar had been Fir Bank's business manager but, according to a tribunal report published last month, was "genuinely shocked" when she was met with a redundancy proposal for August 31, 2021 - just over two weeks shy of her 55th birthday.

Employees who reach the age of 55 and who are made redundant are entitled to take their pension immediately as a 'strain' payment under the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Had Mrs Millar's dismissal been delayed past her birthday, it is estimated she would have been entitled to a strain payment of 'in the region of' £25,000 to £32,000.

But bosses at The Oak Trust, the academy in charge of Fir Bank, denied Mrs Millar this in a decision the Manchester Employment Tribunal ruled was unlawful and discriminatory at a hearing in January.

The tribunal report detailed how bosses of the trust had "accelerated" Mrs Millar's redundancy in a bid to dodge the early payout while accusing her of trying to "game" and "manipulate" the process for "self-gain".

The Oak Trust had formed in 2017 and presides over three Oldham-based schools - North Chadderton, Thorp Primary and Fir Bank.

In April 2021, bosses approved plans to centralise certain administrative roles across the schools which included the "deletion" of some roles, including the school business manager position.

When informed of her dismissal, the tribunal heard how Mrs Millar asked: "I am 55 on the 18th September and would like the early pension option without reduction in my benefits.

"As I am 17 days out, can the trust consider this?"

Yet the trust said they couldn't extend her employment or the redundancy process as it would be a "failure of the responsibility of guardians of the public purse".

Although strain payments were not mentioned in the redundancy proposal, the tribunal decided the prospect would have been "very much" on bosses' minds and that the urgency to dismiss her in order to avoid a large additional cost "was at the forefront".

In June, Mrs Millar submitted a three-page appeal letter and requested a one-to-one meeting to ask questions.

But the tribunal then found the appeals process to be flawed and "bullish" with the panel being "blind" to concerns because "they accepted the portrayal given to them of Mrs Millar as someone who was looking to manipulate the process for self-gain".

The tribunal further heard how the process was riddled with problems, including connection issues to a Microsoft Teams call and an unfair appeals process.

In addition, the tribunal said it was "inexplicable" why a new catering manager role that had opened at the school was not brought to Mrs Millar's attention.

The report stated: "Again, in our view this shows that the respondent was wedded to a fixed timetable and did not want to introduce complexity or doubt by drawing a realistic alternative to Mrs Millar's attention."

It also said that Oak Trust was focused on meeting an "artificial deadline" and failed to uphold a fair and genuine dismissal process, during which the process ought to have been re-started considering the issues at hand and delayed by an estimated six weeks.

Had the process been fair and the dismissal process extended, this would have unlocked access to the enhanced pension and prompted the trust to make the strain payment.

In its judgement, the panel ruled Mrs Millar was unfairly dismissed and unlawfully discriminated against on the grounds of her age and will receive a payout.