Ex-TalkTalk director in equal pay fight says dismissal was a ‘sham’
A FORMER TalkTalk director who claimed she was paid 40 per cent less than her male colleagues has told an employment tribunal her dismissal was a “sham”.
Rebecca Burke, 43, who worked on a scheme in Yorkshire, has brought the telecommunications giant to an employment tribunal claiming sex discrimination as well as unfair dismissal.
The former programme director said her £110,000 salary was 40 per cent below the pay of three of her male colleagues, who had the same job titles and responsibilities.
A central London employment tribunal heard Mrs Burke was hired by TalkTalk in April 2015 to lead the £30m pilot “Lightning” project to install broadband to tens of thousands of homes in York. However, after a massive data breach of customers’ details that October, she also stepped in as the programme director for
the firm’s Cyber Security Programme.
Mrs Burke, from Yateley, Hampshire, also said she was unfairly made redundant in May 2017, in a “predetermined” decision when her team was restructured, which she argued was considered as early as that March.
The 43-year-old raised an equal pay complaint with TalkTalk three months later after details about her colleagues’ pay emerged during the redundancy appeal.
Mrs Burke added her male colleagues had the same job titles and responsibilities.
The tribunal heard that when her team was restructured, Mrs Burke was not given the opportunity to apply for other roles at TalkTalk and said she felt bullied by the redundancy process. Mrs Burke appeared before an employment tribunal in December 2018 which was later postponed.
She has been supported by a number of equal pay campaigners including former BBC China editor Carrie Gracie.
TalkTalk says the 40 per cent figure was in comparison to one colleague. In court documents the firm argues all three men had different salaries in previous roles. The hearing continues.