Credit Suisse loses age bias case against 55-year-old City institutions could face more age discrimination claims from older workers following a landmark tribunal ruling which found that Credit Suisse had discriminated against an equity analyst because of his age . An employment tribunal has ruled that the Swiss bank "directly discriminated" against Tony Shiret, 55, when it dismissed him in May 2011 in a case which shines a spotlight on the City's treatment of older workers. Mr Shiret, who earned £350,000 a year, was dubbed the "godfather of retail" in the City for his coverage of the retail sector where he had been rated second in the 2010 Extel analysts survey. The tribunal found that "age was part of the reason" why he was dismissed. It will decide levels of compensation - which could potentially run into hundreds of thousands of pounds - at a later date. Age discrimination is now seen as a more widespread problem in the City than sex discrimination, according to a recent survey of more than 1,600 workers by Astbury Marsden, a financial services recruiter which found a third of City employees said their employer was "very committed" to gender diversity but less than a quarter felt the company was similarly committed to fighting age discrimination. Lawyers say they are seeing more age discrimination claims in the City - many of which get settled before trial - because changes to bank remuneration policies mean older workers are staying on and are no longer able to retire early with large cash bonuses. In the ruling on Mr Shiret's case, the tribunal judge highlighted an email sent by Charlie Mills, co-head of the bank's pan-European equity research department. Mr Mills wrote of Mr Shiret: "Can we offer early retirement? He is 55 this year, retirement age is 58 at CSS extraordinarily," according to the ruling. Mr Shiret told the FT: "I think Credit Suisse should basically look pretty hard at what they have done and decide what the consequences should be for those involved," adding that he found the legal process "quite difficult." "I hope people do [follow suit] but I don't think the system is particularly easy, and doesn't lend itself to justice for all." he said. Employment lawyer Jo Keddie of Winckworth Sherwood said: "More people are finding it difficult to retire or leave because they don't have final salary pension schemes and banking remuneration is in the form of deferred shares for three or five years, so people have to stay around. "This means that they are much more inclined to stay on and take action if they feel they are pushed out," she added. Paul Quain, partner at GQ Employment said: "Banks are now having to be more careful when going through redundancy exercises if they have older staff as allegations of age discrimination will be much easier for them to make. " he added. Credit Suisse said it plans to appeal. We are disappointed by the decision. Credit Suisse is an equal opportunity employer and does not condone discrimination on any basis.