Tesco seeks to appeal decision in ‘equal pay’ £4bn lawsuit ahead of final hearing
Tesco is back in a courtroom this week seeking to overturn a legal decision ahead of a final trial over allegations of unequal pay at the supermarket giant.
Tesco, one of several UK supermarkets caught in the row, is facing a substantial lawsuit over allegations that it has been underpaying its female staff. The lawsuit argues that store workers, primarily female, are paid less than their colleagues in the distribution centre, who are mainly male.
The case, launched in 2018 by law firms Harcus Parker and Leigh Day, now involves approximately 49,000 employees of the retailer and is reported to be worth a potential £4bn.
The case has been heard in several Employment Tribunal (ET) hearings, but none of the allegations have been determined.
The claims were divided into three stages, with two judgments on stage two handed down in 2023, which saw the Tribunal siding with the claimants in allowing the first sample claimants’ cases to proceed to a final hearing.
In a preliminary hearing at the start of the year, the ET allowed the case to proceed with a defence hearing this year.
Tesco also applied to introduce expert evidence from economists to support its claim that market forces influenced pay rates, but the ET rejected that request.
As a result, Tesco appealed to the EAT on those decisions, which found that the ET misunderstood Tesco’s case, leading to an incorrect rejection of expert evidence. Tesco’s appeal was upheld by the EAT.
Tesco has appealed to the Court of Appeal over directions at a preliminary hearing.
The court is being asked to consider if an appellant to the EAT identifies alleged errors of law in its grounds of appeal and chooses to illustrate those errors of law by reference to certain specific findings within the judgment under appeal, is the scope of its appeal to any extent limited to those specific findings.
Equal pay claims haunting retail sector
The supermarket giant went on to apply to the Court of Appeal, seeking to question the EAT’s decision. The parties will appear before the justices on Thursday for a one-day hearing on the matter.
This is ahead of the anticipated final hearing in the Tesco equal pay case, which is reportedly scheduled to commence at the Tribunal at a later point.
Tesco was approached for a comment on the Court of Appeal hearing.
This comes after fashion retailer Next lost a landmark equal pay claim last year over similar allegations of unequal pay. The Tribunal found that the two groups of employees were doing work of equal value, but Next had been paying the warehouse staff higher rates based on market forces.
This ruling could result in Next paying out over £30m in compensation; however, the retailer is currently seeking to appeal the decision.
The same law firms have similar equal pay claims against Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and the Co-op.
This story has been updated to make clear the EAT agreed with Tesco, upholding its appeal.