Andrew Nugent Smith, Managing Director at Keller Lenkner UK
Group action and multi-claimant firm Keller Lenkner UK has recently filed equal pay claims against Tesco following the European Union’s highest court ruling in June that EU Law could be applied to UK businesses.
Representing nearly 10,000 claimants against the supermarket giant, the firm argues that female retail workers are entitled to backdated equal pay in line with the hourly rate given to their male distribution centre colleagues.
Andrew Nugent Smith, managing director at Keller Lenkner UK, said: “Tesco has been paying its distribution centre staff (who are predominantly male) up to £3 per hour more than their employees working on the shop floor (who are mostly women).
“We believe that customer facing work should be viewed as equal to the work undertaken behind the scenes and that the remuneration should therefore be the same, regardless of gender.
“The current disparity is unlawful, and we estimate that each claimant could be entitled to thousands of pounds in backdated pay. Tesco employees who have worked in its retail stores in England and Wales in the past six years could be entitled to substantial backpay.”
Keller Lenkner UK is also working with the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) representing thousands of Uber drivers. The firm is pursuing tens of millions of pounds in backdated holiday pay and unpaid minimum wages following the Supreme Court ruling in February recognising Uber drivers’ workers’ rights.
The firm recently appointed Mark Kenkre to lead and grow its investment fraud and mis-selling group representing individuals affected by military, SIPP, QORPS and personal pension mis-selling.
Its data breach and cybercrime team, led by Kingsley Hayes, is pursuing data breach actions against a number of national and global organisations including Equiniti, Equifax, Ticketmaster and EasyJet.
Keller Lenkner UK is a group action and multi-claimant firm with ongoing emissions claims against Vauxhall, Mercedes-Benz and the Volkswagen group.
