UK supermarket chain Asda loses ruling over equal pay claim

LONDON — More than 40,000 store workers at Asda, Britain’s third-largest supermarket chain, can proceed with their yearslong claim for equal pay following a ruling Friday from the country’s Supreme Court.

The workers, around two-thirds of whom are women, first brought their sex discrimination claim in 2014. They complained that other members of staff working in distribution depots, who are mostly men, were getting paid more.

The company argued that the jobs were not comparable and took previous rulings against it to the U.K.’s highest court last July.

In a ruling that was led by Justice Mary Arden, the five-member court unanimously dismissed the appeal, a decision that means the workers can proceed with their claim, which could involve years of back-pay.

“This is clearly a very substantial case for Asda,” she said. “However, my conclusion, agreed by the other justices hearing this appeal, does not mean that the claimants’ claims for equal pay succeed. At this stage all that has been determined is that they can use terms and conditions of employment enjoyed by the distribution employees as a valid comparison.”

The ruling could potentially have implications across the sector and other retailers, which lawyers say might lead to supermarkets paying out around 8 billion pounds ($11 billion).

Lawyers from the law firm Leigh Day, who have represented the store workers, said the distribution depot workers were being paid between 1.50 pounds ($2.10) and 3 pounds ($4.10) an hour more.

In 2016, an employment tribunal decided that store workers were entitled to compare themselves to distribution staff and that decision was upheld by Court of Appeal judges in 2019. Asda then appealed to the Supreme Court.

“Asda has wasted money on lawyers’ bills chasing a lost cause, losing appeal after appeal, while tens of thousands of retail workers remain out of pocket,” said Susan Harris, legal director at the GMB union.

“We now call on Asda to sit down with us to reach agreement on the back pay owed to our members — which could run to hundreds of millions of pounds,” she added.

Lawyers for the store staff said the next stage in the claim would involve an employment tribunal deciding whether specific store and distribution jobs were of equal value.

“It’s our hope that Asda will now stop dragging its heels and pay their staff what they are worth,” said Lauren Lougheed, a lawyer at Leigh Day.