Presenter one of four taking BBC to tribunal
FOUR senior female BBC journalists have begun legal action against the broadcaster claiming a job application process was “rigged”.
Martine Croxall, who grew up in Stoke Golding, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh launched an employment tribunal against the BBC, alleging they were snubbed over chief presenter roles following the merger of the BBC’s News and World News channels.
The women, who are aged 48 to 55, claim they have suffered age and sex discrimination after the reorganisation of the BBC’s two TV news channels, announced in July 2022.
The group said they had previously reached pay settlements with the BBC. Ms Croxall told the hearing that “the BBC grinds you down” when it comes to pay claims.
They attended a preliminary hearing at the Central London Employment tribunal, after having originally launched the claim with a fifth journalist who is no longer part of the proceedings.
They alleged there was “a sham recruitment exercise where our jobs were closed even though the redundancies were not genuine as the work still exists”.
Their witness statements said: “Four of us have been demoted, three are facing a sizeable pay cut, with a fourth having had her pay cut for half of her job.
“No men and no women younger than us suffered these detriments.”
The BBC is resisting the women’s legal claim.
The BBC insists its application process was “rigorous and fair” and denied the women were paid less than an equivalent male colleague.