West Yorkshire Police introduced a grading scheme whereby to qualify for the highest grade (and so highest salary) an employee had to hold a law degree. Mr Homer argued that, since he was 61 and so could not obtain such a degree before his retirement, this amounted to age discrimination.
An employment tribunal agreed with him, and also found that such discrimination was unjustified since it was not a proportionate means of achieving the aim of recruiting and retaining suitability qualified staff. West Yorkshire Police appealed.