Asda drops legal team as “mammoth” pay dispute moves forward

ASDA has dropped its legal team after failing to block a major employment tribunal claim involving 7,000 employees.

Herbert Smith Freehills and Pinsent Masons have been replaced with LA-based law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

This comes as 7,000 employees, mainly women on hourly rates, demand equal pay as those employees working in depots, who are mainly men.

Last week, two judges in the Court of Appeal ruled against the retail chain, which wanted the tribunal case forced in front of the High Court through a stay on proceedings.

Gibson Dunn is now running the entire case for the retailer, which has only recently appointed a new chief executive in Sean Clarke , a former global Walmart executive.

At the time, Asda said: “The ruling from the Court of Appeal relates solely to the way the case will proceed in the courts – it has nothing to do with the merits of the case itself.

“Whilst we respect the court’s decision, we continue to strongly dispute the claims being made against us in the employment tribunal.”

It added: “This is a legal case about different rates of pay for different jobs. We believe that jobs in question are very different in terms of their demands, and we strongly dispute the claims being made.

“At Asda people doing the same job are paid the same. Men and women doing the same job in our retail stores are paid the same. Men and women doing the same job in our distribution and logistics centre are paid the same.

“Pay rates in stores and depots differ for legitimate reasons, including the different market rates for different jobs.”