Now MEN sue university over sex discrimination in £700,000 claim by caretakers and handymen to be paid as much as female secretaries and librarians

At least 26 men are suing a university in wales for sex discrimination

The men allege that they have been underpaid compared with their female counterparts on the same pay grade

The men are asking the university to pay them £736,000

Most of the men work as tradesmen



It used to be a battle primarily fought by working women - the right to equal pay and a working environment free of sexual discrimination.

But in a complete role reversal, twenty six men working at a university in Wales are suing their employers for more than £700,000 over allegations of sex discrimination and unequal pay.

The men, who work as tradesmen include caretakers and are all employees of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Equality: University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales - the men all work at the university and allege they were paid less than their female counterparts

They say that they have been paid less than their female counterparts over the past seven years. And the unequal pay gap has left them underpaid an average of £4,000 a years since 2007.

Now they want the university to pay them over £30,000 in back pay.

The disgruntled men are asking the University to pay them £736,000 and they also want to receive future wage increases to put them on the same footing as females in the same pay bracket as they are.

Solicitor Paul Doran, acting on their behalf and representing all of the men involved said he has acted in pay discrimination cases before, but they were for women in Birmingham and Sunderland.

He admits that this case is 'highly unusual' because most cases of pay discrimination involve women.

But he added that the case had no less merit because it involved men.



He said the men had been underpaid since 2007 and alleges that if they had been female - in the same job - they would have received an extra £4000 per year.

Legal battle: Nathan Roberts, 30, of Middleton, Greater Manchester, claims that the North West Ambulance Service's policy forced him to resign

On April 22, 19 of the men in the case will appear before a tribunal hearing in Cardiff.



Depending on the outcome, the other seven men will then have their own hearings at a later date.

One of the men suing revealed that all of the men had felt cheated when they found out that they were being paid less than the women.



He reveals that they approached HR but no one listened to them or took them seriously.



It left them feeling as though they should take it further and sue, as it was a clear case of sexual discrimination.

Describing it as a 'real sense of injustice' he said that they just wanted to be treated fairly.

A spokesman for the University of Wales Trinity Saint David said: 'This employment tribunal relates to events that occurred more than seven years ago at the now dissolved higher education corporation Swansea Metropolitan University and several years before its merger with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David which took place in 2013.



Other cases of discrimination have cropped up recently involving men in the workplace.



Earlier this month, 999 operator Nathan Roberts, 30, of Middleton, Greater Manchester, sued his bosses because he was ordered to swap desks too often.



The father-of-two, who said he would suffer panic attacks after finding colleagues in his preferred seat - has seen his case thrown out by London judges, but could now take it to Europe.

