Female presenter wins equal pay claim against BBC

A British female news presenter who was paid one- sixth of the fee
earned by a male presenter on a similar show won her
discrimination case against the BBC on Friday.
An employment tribunal ruled the corporation failed to prove the
disparity in pay between Samira Ahmed and Jeremy Vine was
“ because of a material factor which did not involve subjecting the
claimant to sex discrimination ” .
Both journalists present shows where the viewers are given a
chance to air their opinions.
The BBC is regularly scrutinised over the amounts it pays top stars
and has also faced several major stories about female staff being
paid less than their male equivalents .
Ahmed , who argued she was owed almost £ 700 ,000 ($ 914 , 000 ,
825 ,000 euros ) in back pay, welcomed the ruling.
“ No woman wants to have to take action against their own
employer . I love working for the BBC , ” she said in a statement
released through the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The BBC responded that Ahmed was “ an excellent journalist and
presenter, and we regret that this case ever had to go to the
tribunal ” .
But it defended its actions . “ We have always believed that the pay of
Samira and Jeremy Vine was not determined by their gender ,” it
said .
“ Presenters — female as well as male — had always been paid more
on ‘Points of View ’ than ‘Newswatch ’.”
The BBC said , “ Points of View” requires the presenter to deal with
issues “ in a light - hearted way ” , so its presenters have tended to be
“ well - known figures in the world of light entertainment ” meriting a
higher market fee.
Newswatch “ deals with matters seriously ” on the “ relatively niche”
BBC News Channel .
It is only repeated on the main BBC One channel during the
Saturday breakfast show “ to fill out the programme” , the
corporation said .
The 15 - minute weekly “ Points of View ” show started in 1961 and
features viewers ’ praise and criticisms across the whole spectrum of
BBC programmes in a dry, humorous style .
“ Newswatch” , a 10 - minute weekly programme, started in 2004 in an
attempt to make the corporation ’s news output more accountable
and gives viewers the right of reply on news coverage .
Ahmed started fronting “ Newswatch ” in 2012 on £ 440 — the same as
her male predecessor Ray Snoddy.
Her occasional male stand - ins have been paid a near- identical
amount.
Vine took over on “ Points of View” in 2008 on £ 3 ,000 — £ 500 less
than his predecessor Terry Wogan .
In 2018 , journalist Carrie Gracie resigned as BBC’ s China editor over
what she called an “ indefensible pay gap ” with other international
editors at the publicly funded media behemoth.
The previous year it published for the first time the salaries of its
highest- paid stars , following pressure from parliament .
The BBC ’s disclosures revealed 12 of the top 14 were men, as were
two- thirds earning more than £ 150 , 000 .