Pak Wong, 57, of Station Road, Woodmancote, was a former commercial director with Bovis Homes Ltd.

He had accused his former employers of taking on younger men to replace him.

Mr Wong lost a compensation claim for unfair dismissal at BirminghamEmployment Tribunal against the firm, following a hearing that started seven months ago.

But tribunal judge Mrs Sheila Warren said that the firm had breached Mr Wong's contract over failing to pay him his full bonus.

The firm said that Mr Wong who was based at Coleshill, near Birmingham, was made redundant as result of a restructuring project and not because of his age.

Mr Wong, who was said to have a long and successful employment with the firm, said he believed he was dismissed because of his age and to save the company money.

He accused the firm of giving younger men with less experience the opportunity to apply for higher positions instead of him. He also accused the respondents of failing to carry out the correct dismissal procedure and of failing to pay him his full bonus of about £80,000.

He had described the firm, at the previous hearing, as one of the top building companies in the country but said he was devastated to be told he was losing his job.

"They made me redundant to save £137,000 at a time when they made a £32 million profit," he said.

Tribunal judge Mrs Sheila Warren said Mr Wong was fairly dismissed for redundancy and that his claim for age discrimination was not well founded. But the respondents had breached Mr Wong's contract by not paying him his full bonus, she added.

Mrs Warren said that Mr Wong's salary had been £91,000 a year and that his job had been unique.

She added: "We could find no evidence that the claimant was selected for redundancy because of his age. His role was being dispensed with."

But Mrs Warren said to pay him around a third of what he could have expected in bonus money "was totally without objective justification".

She added: "To exercise what they saw as an unfettered discretion to reduce his bonus, arbitrarily and without any foundation, is a clear breach of his contract."

Article from Gloucestershire Echo