The Newcastle upon Tyne employment tribunal started hearing an important test case in October 2008. This will influence the outcome of some 13,700 equal pay cases brought by NHS staff. In essence Stefan Cross, who acts for the employees, argued that the Agenda for Change 2004 agreement is inherently sexist as mainly male technical staff were placed in higher pay bands during the initial AfC job evaluation process. This, it is argued, compounded previous pay band discrimination inherent under the old Whitley scales that preceded AfC. This argument failed before the tribunal and the NHS won in late March 2009 but it is understood that an appeal is likely.

The NHS pointed out that "We devised the AfC system in partnership with the trade unions and believe that it is fair and consistent with the principles of equal pay".