Summary

Where dismissal from employment on grounds of incapacity may amount to "retirement".

Facts

Appeal from dismissal of plaintiff's claim to a pension against the trustees of a pension fund under which plaintiff would have been entitled to a pension on "retirement from service with her employers by reason of incapacity" under the fund's rules. In fact she had been dismissed at the age of 45 after long absences from work on grounds of illness caused by cervical spondylosis and agoraphobia which the trustees medical advisers contended were psychogenic in origin and that her difficulties were not permanently disabling necessitating a total cessation of work.

Held

The fact that she had been given notice by her employer rather than her having given the employer notice of her intention to leave did not prevent such termination of her employment being "retirement from service".