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A federal civil servant has been awarded $25,000 for age discrimination because her manager presumed she might soon retire — she was 62 — and denied her the chance to take part in a retirement incentive program.

Diane Legros, a policy analyst, left the government in 2016 at the age of 66 without ever benefiting from the program, known as “alternation.” The program was introduced after the government of then-prime minister Stephen Harper launched a plan to reduce the size of the bureaucracy and balance the budget.

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“Speculating that the grievor (Legros) would retire shortly … was discriminatory because it was based on a stereotyped view, unsupported by the facts,” concluded Marie-Claire Perrault, a member of the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board.

“In fact, the grievor waited four years before retiring.”

In a ruling released this week, Perrault also found that managers ignored directives that made it clear Legros should be considered for the program, an act that the adjudicator called “wilful and reckless” age discrimination.