Female BBC journalists lose bid to sue broadcaster over equal pay

Four female BBC journalists including newsreader Martine Croxall have lost their bid to sue the broadcaster on the grounds of equal pay.

Croxall, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh will not be able to bring a claim because they previously reached settlements with the BBC, a judge ruled at the end of a preliminary hearing.

However, they can proceed with claims for age and sex discrimination.

The four allege that they were denied chief presenter roles on the BBC’s merged news channel due to a “rigged” process in which they stood no chance of being selected.

Their case will be heard in full in March next year in a joint claim at the London Central Employment Tribunal.

In a joint statement, the women said: “We are pleased the tribunal has agreed our four discrimination claims should be heard together, claims the BBC’s lawyers tried to split, which would have necessitated eight hearings at great additional expense to the licence fee payer.

“We remain committed to seeking equal pay despite the BBC’s lawyers relying on a novel argument to prevent our claims progressing.

“We await the judge’s written ruling, to which we will give further consideration.”

The women had used fellow news presenter Matthew Amroliwala as a comparator on pay, saying that the gap between his salary and theirs for like work was £36,000.

They spent a year off air after losing their jobs in the merger of the BBC News and World News channels.

In documents submitted to the tribunal, they allege that Jess Brammar, then head of the BBC news channels, privately assured four other presenters – two men and two younger women – that their jobs were safe.

The women, all in their late 40s or 50s, say they were “set up to fail” in the application process.

The BBC denies the claims.

Responding to the dismissal of the equal pay claim, a BBC spokesperson said: “We are pleased with the result and that the tribunal accepted our position. We will not be commenting further at this stage.”

The BBC conducted an internal review into the hiring process for the merged news channel and concluded that it was “fair and procedurally correct”.