Montague wins £400,000 in BBC pay row
Former ‘Today’ show host at centre of equal salary dispute had ‘no option’ but to speak about settlement
SARAH MONTAGUE, the former host of BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, has won a £400,000 payout in her “stressful” fight against BBC gender discrimination.
The presenter said that she felt she had “no option” but to speak publicly after reports speculating about the payment she received from the Corporation.
“When I discovered the disparity in my pay and conditions, I was advised that rectifying it all could run into the millions,” she said.
“I chose not to seek such sums from the BBC but I did want some recognition that they had underpaid me,” she added.
“Last year, after a long period of stressful negotiations, I accepted a settlement of £400,000 subject to tax and an apology from the BBC for paying me unequally for so many years.”
The settlement by the broadcaster is the latest in its dispute with female members of staff, with as many as 120 bringing forward equal pay cases.
Montague, who now presents Radio 4’s The World at One, received the payment following the BBC’S internal investigation into unequal pay.
She was reportedly “incandescent with rage” after learning that she was paid almost five times less than John
Humphrys, her Today co-host for 18 years.
The presenter lodged a complaint when it emerged that she only took home £133,000 compared to Humphrys, who earned between £600,000 and £649,000.
According to recent BBC figures, Montague earns more than £240,000 in her new role.
Though Montague was told by Humphrys about their difference in pay before the BBC published its equal pay report in 2018, she said that she “had long suspected that I was paid much less than my colleagues but until the pay disclosures, I had no idea of the scale of that difference”.
She added: “John Humphrys told me what he was paid before the reveal, long before. My issue was less with John than with other people who were used much less than me and who were very, very open with me.
“There were some emails that I got from some brilliant male colleagues who just immediately were saying, ‘If it helps’ [and then would tell her their salary]’, or, ‘Can’t believe what I’ve just seen [about your salary], if it helps, this is what I’m on’ and that’s what you need.”
At the employment tribunal of
Samira Ahmed, a list of 120 women who were making cases against the
BBC was mistakenly revealed to the hearing.
Women who have been identified include the award-winning foreign correspondent, Orla Guerin, and BBC stars Louise Minchin and Joanna Gosling.
Ahmed claimed back almost £700,000 in payments alleging that the BBC broke unequal legislation, with her case backed by the National Union of Journalists.
In her tribunal, she compared her earnings when presenting Newswatch, with Jeremy Vine’s earnings for presenting Points of View.
Ahmed won her case and in a unanimous judgment it was said that her work was like that of Vine and the BBC had not proved that their difference in pay was because of discrimination because of their sex.
She said: “No woman wants to have to take action against their own employer,” but that she was “glad it’s been resolved”.
Responding to the case of Montague, a BBC spokesman said: “While we don’t comment on individual cases, no one has received a payment of £1million.
“We have made significant changes to pay and grading over recent years to ensure we have a system that is fair and more transparent than most other organisations.
“Given this, we’ve unsurprisingly had a large number of queries about different aspects of pay and the majority of these do not result in any changes to individuals’ pay.
“Where we’ve identified historic issues we have been addressing them. We continue to try to engage with our staff to resolve a small number of outstanding cases.”