Four female BBC News presenters have commenced legal action against the UK broadcaster, arguing they were forced off air for a year and harassed as a result of a “rigged” recruitment process.
Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh were present at the London Central Employment Tribunal on Wednesday for a two-day preliminary hearing.
The seasoned BBC News anchors submitted near-identical witness statements to the tribunal, claiming that they were victims of a “sham” hiring process in January 2023.
The women, aged 48 to 54, said the process had caused them to suffer age and sex discrimination, equal pay concerns, and harassment, including facing a “hostile, degrading, intimidating environment in the workplace.”
The women applied to become a chief presenter on the rebooted BBC News channel, but allege that management had predetermined their preferred candidates before the hiring process began.
After challenging the BBC hiring process, Croxall, Giannone, Madera, and McVeigh said they lost their jobs, were kept off air for a year, while some were demoted and others faced a pay cut.
The women said they had reports from clinical psychologists showing they had suffered “negative physical and mental health impacts” following their treatment by the BBC.
The BBC has stood by the recruitment process and an internal HR investigation concluded last year that successful chief presenters were not promised their jobs before an open hiring procedure.
The presenters said in their witness accounts that they had a whistleblower statement supporting their allegations. Deadline has previously reported that a successful candidate had admitted to having a “tap on the shoulder” from managers after they secured a chief presenter role.
BBC director general Tim Davie was embroiled in the proceedings. In their witness statements, the women claimed that he told Madera in October 2022 that “some people had been at the news channels for too long.”
The allegations are embarrassing for the BBC and represent the highest-profile tribunal faced by the corporation since it lost a landmark gender pay battle with Newswatch host Samira Ahmed in 2020.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the four women gave evidence about equal pay claims, which they hope can form part of a full hearing, potentially later this year.
All said they accepted a pay revision from the BBC in 2020 after “it became apparent the BBC had allowed its pay for news channel chief presenters to again become tainted by sex.”
Croxall told the tribunal that “discrimination is baked into BBC pay structures,” adding that the corporation “grinds you down” and “breaks you” during equal pay disputes.
A fifth BBC presenter, Geeta Guru-Murthy, withdrew from the legal action on Wednesday. The BBC declined to comment.
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