Both cases concerned whether it was unlawful sex discrimination, prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, for men to be paid less on shared parental leave than women are paid on maternity leave. In the first case, the employee wished to be paid the same rate as a female employee would have been paid on maternity leave, but he was only eligible for shared parental leave at the statutory rate of pay, and he claimed that this constituted unlawful direct sex discrimination. The employee in the second case took shared parental leave, during which time he received the statutory rate of pay, and he brought a claim alleging that the policy of only remunerating shared parental leave at the statutory level caused particular disadvantage to men and was unlawful indirect discrimination; the employer cross-appealed, asserting that the employee's claim was properly characterised as an equal pay claim.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the employees' appeals against the respective EAT decisions, and allowed the cross-appeal by the employer in the second case.