Wife Sues Cheating Husband for Age Discrimination, Only to Discover the Other Woman Was Older

A British woman sued her husband for age discrimination because she thought he left her for a younger woman—but the new wife turned out to be older. That wasn't the only unusual detail in the divorce case between the wealthy accountant and her husband, a jewelry importer. Despite the age miscalculation, a judge determined she was still entitled to compensation. Read on to find out why—and why the case took another twist in court.

According to the Telegraph, Eleanor Belson, 60, sued Tim Belson, 72, for age discrimination, claiming he ended their 11-year marriage and laid her off from an accounting job with his jewelry business. But a UK employment court determined that Eleanor Belson actually left the marriage and her ex-husband's new partner was, at 63, older than her. But the court granted Eleanor her claim of unfair dismissal and said she's entitled to compensation from her ex's company.

Tim Belson, a former Olympic fencer, married Mrs. Belson in 2009. She worked as a bookkeeper at his company, Jewelry Validation Service, the news outlet reported. But lawyers told the court the couple's relationship started to go south in early 2021. Tim Belson said his wife started an affair with their elderly neighbor (identified in court only as Mr. Y) and went on a Caribbean vacation with him. 

Tim Belson also claimed that in the summer of 2021, Eleanor and Mr. Y bought an apartment together in a building three doors from the home she shared with her husband. Additionally, Tim said Mr. Y had left Eleanor $1 million in his will and that she made "an unsigned revision to her will, leaving all her property to Mr. Y."

Eleanor Belson dismissed the accusation, saying Mr. Y was "83, old and gay." Tim refuted that, saying, "Mr. Y is only 76 and fit" and that the pair have been spotted shopping at s local supermarket together, the Telegraph reported.

Tim Belson claimed he didn't know about the apartment Eleanor had bought, and at that time, the two of them had started divorce proceedings and discussions about her leaving her job.

In 2022, when Tim found out about the real estate purchase, he fired Eleanor. For her part, Eleanor said Tim wanted her out of his business because he had fallen in love with a younger co-worker—who turned out to be three years older than Eleanor. 

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Eleanor Belson had sued for age, disability, and marital status discrimination, along with whistleblowing retaliation. A judge dismissed those complaints, the Telegraph reported. "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," a judge said."Further, it is clear that it was Mrs. Belson who left the marital relationship."

But the court ruled that Tim firing his wife over the apartment entitled her to compensation for unfair dismissal, the amount to be determined later.