In GMB v Allen and others UKEAT/0425/06, the EAT overturned a tribunal decision that the GMB had indirectly discriminated against some of its female members on grounds of sex when it reached a low back pay settlement in order to prioritise future pay protection and that it had victimised them by failing to support their equal pay claims against their employer.

The EAT agreed with the tribunal that the GMB's decision to prioritise pay protection had a disparate impact (the disadvantaged group of those with equal pay claims being made up mainly of women, given the historic gender imbalance in local authority jobs). However, the EAT held that the GMB's decision was justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Further, there was no evidential basis for the tribunal's finding that the GMB had victimised its female members by failing to support their claims, particularly as, after the members had instructed solicitors, the GMB was not in a position to act for them in the same matter.