An accountant sued her husband for age discrimination wrongly believing he had left her for a younger woman, a tribunal has heard. Eleanor Belson, 60, alleged that Tim Belson, 72, was ageist for ending their marriage and making her redundant from his jewellery firm in Hatton Garden where she worked as a bookkeeper.
The claim was one of several made against her husband, a former fencer who represented Great Britain at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.
But Mrs Belson’s claims were dismissed after the tribunal ruled she had left the marriage and Mr Belson’s new partner was older than her, at 63.
Mrs Belson won a claim of unfair dismissal and is due compensation from the company.
The Belsons married in 2009 and she worked for his company Jewellery Validation Service, which trades as Prestige Valuations, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The tribunal heard that Mrs Belson and Mr Y bought a flat together three doors down from her marital home in the same building in the summer of 2021.
Mr Belson was unaware of the purchase, the hearing was told.
Amid their divorce proceedings, the Belsons started settlement discussions as part of her exit from Mr Belson’s company.
Mrs Belson thought Mr Belson wanted to oust her from the firm because he had found love with “younger woman”, Julie Lawn.
When Mr Belson found out Mrs Belson was buying the apartment in 2022, he sacked her from his company.
He believed it changed their divorce settlement with Mrs Belson owing him hundreds of thousands of pounds rather than him needing to give her £150,000.
Mrs Belson’s claims of discrimination over age, marital status and disability all failed along with whistleblowing detriments.
Judge Stout told the tribunal in London: “We reject Mrs Belson’s evidence that Mr Belson was motivated by her age on the basis that he had ‘left her for a younger woman’… as his new girlfriend is older than Mrs Belson.
“Further, it is clear that it was Mrs Belson who left the marital relationship.”
Mrs Belson is due to receive compensation for unfair dismissal at a later date.
