“Horrible.” That is how Sam Walker, former chief human resources officer of the Co-operative Group, describes fighting her former employer, first through an internal grievance process and then an employment tribunal, followed by an appeal lodged by the Co-op against the tribunal ruling, which had found partially in Ms Walker’s favour.
She had claimed that she was sacked for refusing to accept a demotion after complaining that she was paid less than her male peers. In October an appeal tribunal upheld one aspect of the Co-op’s appeal, in connection with the equal pay claim, and rejected another, relating to the tribunal’s finding of direct discrimination in an end of year appraisal in 2015.
Ms Walker, who intends to appeal the ruling, has already paid a high price for her tenacity. To pursue her claim, she remortgaged the family home and exhausted her savings — and herself. Fighting an employer grinds you down. After a few months, she says, “you’re not sleeping, not eating properly, you think ‘is it me?’”