EAT SEX DISCRIMINATION
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Compromise
Compromise agreements. Whether compliance with section 77(4B) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Equal pay Claimants. No prior claims presented to Employment Tribunal. Whether the compromise agreements related to ‘particular complaints’? Whether the Claimants ‘received advice’ from an ‘independent adviser’? Whether their solicitors were ‘acting in the matter for the Respondent’? A local authority, in anticipation of having to face thousands of equal pay claims, met with unions and agreed settlement proposals then contacted various large firms of solicitors who agreed to act for individual employees. The employees were invited to meetings at which, as a group, they received a PowerPoint presentation from one of the solicitors and thereafter had individual meetings with solicitors during which compromise agreements were signed. On appeal, Tribunal’s judgment that the compromise agreements met the statutory requirements and were valid, upheld.
Judges:
Lady Smith
Citations:
[2011] UKEAT 0036 – 10 – 1003, [2011] IRLR 568
Links:
Employment, Scotland
Updated: 06 September 2022; Ref: scu.432793