Disclosure for equal pay claims

Case 21: The facts

On the first day of the hearing in her equal pay claim, Stephanie Villalba applied for disclosure of pay details from Merrill Lynch for all employees on levels 1 and 2. The application was refused by the tribunal, and Villalba appealed to the EAT.

The ruling

The EAT said that a comparator used in an equal pay claim must be performing the same type of work as the claimant. The fact that a group of employees is all on the same band or grade does not imply that they carry out like work or work of equal value. The EAT therefore held that the request for pay details of all employees in particular grades went too wide - it was not a proportionate or legitimate response and there was no obligation on the employer to provide it.

Villalba v Merrill Lynch UKEAT/0461/04