Compromised claims

Case 2: The facts

Cecilia McNaughton brought an equal pay claim in respect of her exclusion from a pension scheme while she was working part-time.

However, her employment had already been terminated by way of a compromise agreement which restricted her from bringing claims against her former employer.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal allowed the claim to proceed. In principle, it said, a compromise agreement can settle future claims that the employee was unaware of at the time. But although this agreement said it was in settlement of any claim arising from McNaughton's employment and referred to the Equal Pay Act, it included the words "all of which claims you have raised". This meant that McNaughton was only barred from bringing claims that she was aware of and had raised at the time of signing the agreement. She had not raised the pension issue as she had not discovered that she might have a claim until after she had left her employment.

Hilton UK Hotels v McNaughton EATS/0059/04