Female presenters legal action against BBC
Four presenters have begun legal action against the BBC on grounds of sex and age discrimination and equal pay.
Martine Croxall, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera are attending a two-day hearing for an employment tribunal against the corporation in central London.
They claim they lost their roles on the BBC News Channel following a "rigged" recruitment exercise.
The BBC insists its application process was "rigorous and fair".
The corporation also denied the claims that the four women were paid less than an equivalent male peer.
In court documents, it said: "It is denied that [the BBC] has subjected [the presenters] to age or sex discrimination, harassment or victimisation, or has breached the sex equality clause."
The two-day preliminary hearing, which started on Wednesday, is laying out the groundwork for a full tribunal against the corporation.
The four newsreaders have all been presenters on the BBC's TV channels.
In July 2022, the BBC announced proposals to merge its domestic and international news channels.
The presenters claim that ahead of the announcement of the merger, the BBC's Channels' manager Jess Brammar privately assured four other chief presenters - two men and two younger women - their jobs were safe.
"We were put through a pre-determined job application process in February 2023," the presenters said in court documents.
As a result, they said they were not recruited as chief presenters and were instead offered roles as correspondents, which was in effect a demotion and a reduction in pay.
Related legal documents, (so you can avoid this)