A claims company that was instrumental in securing a £500m equal-pay deal for thousands of female council workers in Glasgow is to receive £13m of the payout to cover its fees, the Observer has learned.
The sum paid to Action4Equality Scotland has raised eyebrows among some union officials, one of whom told the Observer: “It does seem a huge amount.” But Stefan Cross, the company’s founder and an equality lawyer who has secured similar successful claims against other councils in Scotland and England, has defended its fee.
Glasgow city council, Action4Equality Scotland and the Unison, GMB and Unite unions confirmed this month that they had reached an agreement to settle about 14,000 claims brought by female council workers following a 12-year battle.
The announcement came after more than 8,000 women employed in the city’s homecare, schools, nurseries, cleaning and catering services went on strike last October in what is believed to be the biggest equal pay strike in the UK. As a result of the agreement, payments of a few thousand pounds up to more than £100,000 in some cases will be made between April and the end of the year.
Cross’s supporters say the payout was far greater than would have been achieved if it had been left to the unions.
Loved by many of his clients, Cross cuts a flamboyant figure. He has admitted to using his Ferrari to do the school run. Companies House reveals that he recently set up a company called Cross Family Investments. Action4Equality Scotland has assets of more than £3.3m, according to filings at Companies House.
Cross said he could not comment on the size of the fees owed to his company due to confidentiality. He said the fees, believed to be 6.5% of the estimated £200m that his company secured for the workers it represented, were not to be viewed as profits as it had to pay off “millions of pounds” in debts arising from bringing the claim.
“We will earn for 14 years’ work less than many other Scottish lawyers, including some trade union lawyers, have earned over the same period,” Cross said. “We are proud of our achievements.”
