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Why is newsreader Martine Croxall suing the BBC?

Martine Croxall has not presented on the BBC since March last year but has remained on full pay.

Connor Parker
·4-min read
(Left to right) Annita McVeigh, Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera arriving at the London Central Employment Tribunal in Kingsway, central London, where newsreader Martine Croxall is bringing an employment tribunal against the BBC. Picture date: Wednesday May 1, 2024.
Annita McVeigh, Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera arrive at the London Central Employment Tribunal in Kingsway, central London. (PA) (PA, PA Images)

Newsreader Martine Croxall’s employment tribunal against the BBC begins today, following her absence from the channel for over a year.

The broadcaster is suing the BBC amid a high-profile gender pay dispute and continued questions over why several top female presenters have been kept off air. The full details of Croxall’s claims are not known.

Croxall, 55, was seen arriving at the London Central Employment Tribunal on Wednesday morning with fellow news anchors Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh.

Martine Coxall is suing the BBC.
Martine Coxall is suing the BBC.

The full details of Croxall's case have not been revealed but preliminary details for the proceedings have revealed that equal pay is an issue, according to the Daily Mail. Several reports leading up to the start of the tribunal have suggested the case relates to her not being put on air for over a year.

The 55-year-old last presented the BBC News channel in March last year. Around the same time, the broadcaster announced their home and world news channels would be merged with Croxall and her colleagues told to reapply for a smaller pool of newsreading roles. In total, 18 presenters were required to apply for five roles.

Tim Davie director-general at the BBC has said he is working to a
Tim Davie director-general at the BBC has said he is working to a 'fair resolution' for the women. (PA) (House of Commons/UK Parliament, PA Images)
Annita McVeigh arrived at the tribunal with Croxall. (BBC)
Annita McVeigh arrived at the tribunal with Martine Croxall. (BBC)

Croxall is one of five female presenters over 45 who missed out, since then they have all been left without roles but have remained on full pay. Only two of the five, Geeta Guru-Murthy and Annita McVeigh have returned to work, despite reports that at the start of 2024 they would all be given new on-screen jobs. The other two women stuck in limbo are Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera.

The BBC director general Tim Davie was asked about the situation at a parliamentary select committee in March where he said the corporation was working to a "fair resolution" for the women. He said: "It is not a good situation where you are paying people [who are off air], and we are trying to get it resolved as fast as possible. I recognise that it has been going on for some time."

Kasia Madera Presented Newsday London for the BBC. (BBC)
Kasia Madera Presented Newsday London for the BBC. (BBC)

The treatment of the five women has been a point of contention inside the BBC as well, with some being sympathetic but others questioning why they have been on full pay without a role. A BBC source told Deadline: "I don't think it's rocket science to say they have been badly treated."

Coxall's case will be the most high-profile legal challenge brought against the BBC since Samira Ahmed won a gender pay dispute in 2020.

At that time a London employment tribunal found that Ahmed should have been paid the same as fellow presenter Jeremy Vine for their work on Newswatch and Points Of View respectively. The BBC had argued the pair were not doing similar work.

Karin Giannone is one of the news anchors suing the BBC. (BBC)
Karin Giannone is one of the news anchors suing the BBC. (BBC)

Ahmed claimed she was underpaid by £700,000 for hosting the show when compared to Vine. The employment tribunal's unanimous judgment said her work was like that done by Vine, and the BBC had failed to prove the pay gap was not because of sex discrimination.

Samira Ahmed won an equal pay dispute against the BBC in 2020. (PA)
Samira Ahmed won an equal pay dispute against the BBC in 2020. (PA) (See Li/Picture Capital)

Radio presenter Sarah Montague also revealed in 2020 that she won a £400,000 settlement and an apology from the BBC after being treated "unequally" by them for many years.

The 53-year-old who previously presented BBC Radio 4’s Today programme alongside veteran journalist John Humphrys, said the deal came after a “long period of stressful negotiations” which was triggered after discovering a disparity in her pay and conditions.