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02 November 2012
Issue: 7536 / Categories: Case law , Law reports , In Court
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Employment—Equality of treatment of men and women—Equal pay for equal work

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Birmingham City Council v Abdulla and others [2012] UKSC 47

Supreme Court, Lady Hale, Lord Wilson, Lord Sumption, Lord Reed and Lord Carnwath, 24 October 2012

On the true construction of the first part of s 2(3) of the Equal Pay Act 1970 (EPA 1970) and s 128(1) of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010), a claim in respect of the operation of an equality clause can never be more conveniently disposed of by the tribunal if it would thereby be time-barred.

Andrew Short QC and Naomi Ling (instructed by Leigh Day & Co) for the claimants. Paul Espstein QC, Louise Chudleigh and Nathan Caiden (instructed by Birmingham City Council Legal and Democratic Services) for the authority.

The claimants were formerly employed by the defendant local authority and were mostly women. They brought an equal pay claim against the authority in the High Court. The claims would have been out of time had they been issued in the employment tribunal,

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