BBC presenter Martine Croxall is reportedly taking legal action against the broadcaster.
Croxall, who has been off air for more than a year, is taking her case to an employment tribunal, scheduled to take place next month, Metro reports.
It comes after the BBC lost a 2020 case against Newswatch host Samira Ahmed over a gender pay dispute.
The presenter questioned why she was receiving £495 per episode, while colleague Jeremy Vine was earning £3,000 for each episode of Points of View. The employment tribunal unanimously ruled against the BBC.
Details of the upcoming case have not yet been made public.
It comes after Croxall, along with Karin Giannone, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh, were allegedly snubbed by the broadcaster for a chief presenting role last year.
Martine Croxall has taken legal action against the BBC
BBC
The group came together to challenge the broadcaster, claiming the process had been favouring certain presenters before the application process had started.
McVeigh and Guru-Murthy have both landed chief presenting positions since as new roles became available.
Meanwhile, Giannone and Madera have also remained off air for over a year.
Croxall hasn’t fronted the BBC News since last March, and it’s been reported sources have said she’s in talks with the broadcaster over her future.
Details of the newsreader’s case haven’t been disclosed
BBC
Deadline reports the channel has spent £1million while the women have been off air, paying their salaries as well as cover.
BBC’s Director General Tim Davie recently said they had been aiming for a “fair resolution” for the women.
He commented: “It is not a good situation where you are paying people [who are not on air] and we are trying to get it resolved as fast as possible. I recognise that it has been going on for some time.”
The BBC has faced similar legal battles in the past, with Moira Stuart at the centre of an ageism row with the company after being dropped from her Sunday morning slot 17 years ago at the age of 55.
Martine Croxall hasn’t been on air since last year
BBC
The corporation was in a years-long battle with the courts after several other previous employees also accused the BBC of ageism such as Miriam O’Reilly and Anna Ford.
Former Countryfile presenter O’Reilly ended up winning her employment tribunal against the broadcaster in 2011.
Speaking at the time, she told The Guardian: “I felt I was treated badly because of my age and taking on the BBC was the right thing to do, however hurtful and stressful it has been.”
In 2009, Stuart went on to narrate a Channel 4 documentary about ageism.
GB News has contacted the BBC over the reports.
