About

Team size: 10
Major law firms used: Allen & Overy, Ashurst, DWF, Eversheds Sutherland, Shoosmiths

It has been a difficult time at £17bn-turnover, listed supermarket giant Morrisons. Major litigation over a data breach, a £1bn equal pay claim and a major fire at a supermarket in Folkestone have dominated 2018.

Head of legal Alison Charnock drew wide-ranging plaudits for her work throughout this period. She stepped up to the role in the wake of former GC Mark Amsden, who left the company in mid-2017 after more than four years. Eversheds Sutherland senior partner Shirley Hall admires Charnock’s work: ‘Alison has been involved in major litigation this year on data protection involving the release of employee data by a disgruntled employee and is now involved in mass equal pay litigation.’

In October 2018, Morrisons lost an appeal relating to that long-running data protection case, when it was found to be legally responsible for a data breach affecting more than 100,000 employees. A former employee, who was convicted of fraud in 2015, had leaked payroll information in the breach.
A month earlier, an equal pay claim was brought by Leigh Day on behalf of a group of employees, which if successful could be worth £1bn in back pay. It followed action the law firm took against Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda.

White & Case partner Patrick Sarch is also impressed by Charnock’s abilities. ‘The company has had another very busy year. She is fighting the good fight on data issues and handles a significant number of other complex issues across the business. We think she
is awesome.’