Compromising issue

I was not dismissed by the University of East London and I am not pursuing a claim for unfair dismissal ("Lecturer wins landmark legal case", June 17). I took a routine early retirement offer. Anyone contemplating such an offer needs to recognise that if the termination agreement uses the term "compromise agreement", it may be a means of denying your rights to redress for discriminatory detriments you may have suffered.

I agreed not to claim unfair dismissal when I accepted the early retirement deal. But I am entitled to pursue my claims against UEL for its treatment of me after I had raised concerns to the funding council under the Public Interest Disclosure Act. An early retirement deal should not be used surreptitiously to block such claims, as the Court of Appeal judges recognised. After their ruling, an organisation trying to compromise your rights under the guise of an early retirement deal will need to spell this out.

David A.
Hinton Retired principal lecturer University of East London