Journalists launch legal action against BBC’s ‘rigged’ recruitment process

Four female journalists have launched legal action against the BBC after claiming the job application process was ‘rigged’.

Maxine Croxall and three other senior journalists launched the action after accusing the broadcaster of a ‘sham recruitment exercise’ which amounted to sex and age discrimination, as well as concerns over equal pay.

The presenters, all aged between 48 and 55, say they were ‘snubbed’ for chief presenter roles following the merger of the BBC’s News and World News channels.

They claim they failed to land top anchor roles due to a recruitment exercise “rigged” in favour of certain senior presenters before applications opened.

The merger meant that the women were asked to reapply for one of two new chief presenter jobs, and were told that if unsuccessful, the remaining three could be offered a new role as correspondents – an effective demotion from their previous positions as senior journalists.

However, the women say “this was because of a sham recruitment exercise” because  “the redundancies were not genuine as the work still exists.” They say that they were “set up to fail in the jobs process” as they were denied work, while less experienced freelancers and casuals have covered shifts they could have done.

However, BBC director general Tim Davie said the BBC was attempting to work towards a “fair resolution” for the five women, who were asked to reapply for one of two new chief presenter jobs.

In their witness statements, which appear to be similar, the women said:

“I am one of five female chief presenters with BBC News, aged 48 to 54, at the time of the detriments, who have suffered (direct/indirect) discrimination on the grounds of age and sex, victimisation for union rep activities, victimisation for carrying out protected acts (bringing equal pay claims), harassment (violation of dignity, creation of a hostile, degrading, intimidating environment in the workplace, causing us to suffer ill-health and reputational damage).

“This was because of a sham recruitment exercise where our jobs were closed even though the redundancies were not genuine as the work still exists.”

However, the BBC has denied the claim, stating it has conducted an internal review. Their witness statements add:

“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.”

A two-day preliminary hearing in Central London ended on Thursday, and a three-week tribunal to hear the claims in detail will be held in March 2025.

However, during the preliminary hearing, the employment tribunal did rule that the claim relating to equal pay would not be included because the presenters had existing equal pay settlements with the BBC.

The four presenters released a joint statement on being allowed to have their claims heard together, saying:

“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.”

Croxall, who has worked with the BBC since 1991 said that she would not have taken the settlement had she known it would prevent her from making future claims.

She told the tribunal on Wednesday: “The BBC grinds you down on pay, it breaks you. You don’t feel like you can continue with it in the moment and that’s why I’m here.”

The presenters said they have not been paid equally compared with their male counterparts since February 2020 and there was a gap of about £36,000 a year in pensionable salary as of February 2023.

The tribunal comes after a high-profile gender pay dispute between the BBC and Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed. In 2020 a London employment tribunal found that Ms. Ahmed should have been paid the same as fellow presenter Jeremy Vine for their work on Newswatch and Points Of View respectively – where Vine was being £3,000 per episode compared to Ahmed’s £440-an-episode rate.

Meanwhile, in 2021 the BBC disclosed it had spent more than £1 million on legal fees fighting equal pay and race discrimination cases brought by staff.

Further reading

Workplace discrimination – Oakwood Solicitors

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