In St Helens Borough Council v Derbyshire and others the House of Lords overturned the Court of Appeal's decision and reinstated the tribunal's finding that the Council had victimised the claimants when it sent letters to the claimants and all catering staff warning that if the claimants persisted in their equal pay claims, the Council would no longer be able to afford to provide school meals and there would be job losses as a result. The letters went beyond an "honest and reasonable" means of protecting the Council's interest in the ongoing litigation and the tribunal had been entitled to find that the letters were a detriment to the claimants and that the reason the Council had sent them was that the claimants had brought and were pursuing equal pay claims.