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Morrisons Pay Class Action Overview
- Who: UK grocery chain WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC.
- Why: Morrisons is fighting a multimillion-pound gender discrimination class action representing more than 25,000 former workers.
- Where: Morrisons told a London court that its pay policies do not violate UK law in recently released documents.
Morrisons pay policies do not amount to violations the UK Equality Act, according to court documents submitted by the grocer to the High Court in response to a gender discrimination class action lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of workers in April.
The Morrisons pay class action lawsuit, filed by shop floor workers who claim they have been paid at least £2 per hour less than the distribution centre workers since about 2013, may be worth as much as £100 million.
Morrisons’ court filing, which was only recently released, asserts that female workers’ pay at retail locations cannot be compared to male workers’ pay at Morrisons distribution centers.
“The claimants (both female and male) have failed to particularize what, if any, terms of their contracts are less favorable to them than corresponding terms of any comparator’s contract, save to make a general assertion in respect of hourly pay,” says the grocer in its defense statement.
The grocer may face some legal headwinds as workers in similar gender discrimination class action lawsuits have scored recent courtroom victories.
Morrisons Pay Claims Join Other Gender Discrimination Class Action Lawsuits
Indeed, six of the nation’s leading retailers, including Morrisons, are facing equal pay legal battles alleging they’ve been unfairly paying certain workers — predominantly female staff — less for years.
Grocers and retail giants Asda, Tesco, Next, Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Morrisons are each facing equal pay claims from their employees, with many of the lawsuits seeking back pay which could see the retailers forking out billions.
Asda workers scored a victory in the UK Supreme Court this summer, with the court ruling the shop and warehouse roles were comparable, according to Bloomberg. Tesco workers also moved forward after a European Union (EU) court ruled that EU laws on equal pay for equal work could be taken into account in the equal pay case against the grocer.
Morrisons asserted in its defense that workers should not be able to apply EU law to the pay class action lawsuit.
Top Class Actions will continue to monitor the Morrisons pay discrimination lawsuit and others and report on major developments.
What do you think of the claims about unequal Morrisons pay? Tell us in the comment section below!
The plaintiffs are represented by Roscoe Reid LLP.
The Morrisons Pay Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Bahar and others v. WM Morrisons Supermarket PLC and another, Case No. QB-2020-004252 in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales.
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