Tesco has returned to court this week seeking to overturn a legal decision in its ongoing £4bn equal pay dispute.
The supermarket giant is facing claims from around 49,000 current and former store workers, mainly women, who allege they are paid less than male-dominated distribution centre staff for work of equal value.
The case, which first launched in 2018 by law firms Harcus Parker and Leigh Day, has already passed through several Employment Tribunal stages.
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Tesco is now appealing to the Court of Appeal after the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled earlier this year that the retailer should have been allowed to submit expert economic evidence arguing that market forces explain the pay gap.
It is understood the supermarket’s legal team will argue that earlier tribunal rulings misunderstood its case, with the hearing scheduled for one day ahead of a final employment tribunal trial expected later.
Tesco is not the first retailer to be wrapped up in an equal pay dispute. Next lost its six-year legal battle over equal pay last August.
Lawyers for the some 3,500 former and current store employees hailed the judgement at the time as “hugely significant” and the amount of back-pay owed to the claimants could amount to more than £30m.
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