Samira Ahmed said she feels a ‘bit overwhelmed’ following her landmark victory in her sex discrimination and equal pay claim against the BBC.
The broadcaster paid her significantly less than Jeremy Vine for doing the practically same job on a rival show.
In a tweet shared yesterday afternoon, the 51-year-old thanked ‘all those who showed they understand equal pay is about fairness and men and women as allies’.
Miss Ahmed took the BBC to a tribunal over her contracts on the programme Newswatch, which she has presented since 2012, and proved she was unfairly paid less than her male peers.
Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed (left last year at her tribunal) today won her landmark sex discrimination and equal pay claim against the BBC who paid her less than Jeremy Vine for doing Points of View
She argued that her equal pay comparator Mr Vine, who worked on Points of View between 2008 and 2018, was paid £3,000 per episode – whereas she received £440 for her own show.
Both host-led programmes were just under 15 minutes long and let the public air their opinions on BBC content.
Miss Ahmed said that although his fee was reduced to £1,300 in January 2018, hers was only increased in 2015 to £465 per programme – then reduced again when the BBC moved presenters on to employment contracts.
Miss Ahmed tweeted: ‘Bit overwhelmed. Thank you for all the kind words. ‘Could not have brought this case without support of my union @NUJofficial my brilliant lawyers @claire_darwin and Caroline Underhill and all those who showed they understand equal pay is about fairness and men and women as allies’
A ruling handed down by Judge Harjit Grewal this afternoon found unanimously in her favour.
Miss Ahmed tweeted: ‘Bit overwhelmed. Thank you for all the kind words.
‘Could not have brought this case without support of my union @NUJofficial my brilliant lawyers @claire_darwin and Caroline Underhill and all those who showed they understand equal pay is about fairness and men and women as allies.’
Former China editor Carrie Gracie and BBC Radio 4 presenter Jane Garvey were among those praising Ms Ahmed following today’s judgment.
BBC Radio 4 presenter Jane Garvey, who has openly supported Ms Ahmed throughout proceedings, tweeted: ‘Just brilliant @SamiraAhmedUK – it took real courage and she has it. #equalpay’
Former China editor Carrie Gracie was among those praising Ms Ahmed following the judgment on Friday
Ms Gracie became a figurehead for other women at the BBC when she resigned from her position in January 2018 in protest at pay inequalities at the broadcaster.
Her move came after the BBC published the salaries of its highest earners in July 2017 under the terms of its new royal charter, which revealed that only one third of the list of talent earning more than £150,000 were women, with all the top names being men.
Ms Gracie also praised the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and ‘the great legal team who helped SamiraAhmedUK to victory’ in the landmark case.
Labour MP David Lammy tweeted: ‘Congrats @SamiraAhmedUK. Equal work deserves equal pay.’
Jane Garvey, who has openly supported Ms Ahmed throughout proceedings, tweeted: ‘Just brilliant @SamiraAhmedUK – it took real courage and she has it. £equalpay.’
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said the BBC was currently looking at roughly 20 other cases like Ms Ahmed’s but ‘there are many more that remain unresolved, possibly as many as 70 at the time of the hearing’.
Speaking outside the BBC headquarters in London she said: ‘You couldn’t get a more emphatic win, a resounding victory. It’s not a victory that is on any kind of legal technicality, it is so clear cut.’
Asked whether they would be seeking the total pay Ms Ahmed missed out on, according to the judgment, she replied: ‘Absolutely. The schedule of loss is very clear and we are looking forward to that being settled.’
The 51-year-old took the broadcaster to a tribunal over her contracts on the programme Newswatch, which she has presented since 2012, and proved she was unfairly paid less than her male peers
Samira Ahmed thanked the judge and panel members of her employment tribunal on Twitter
She added that the BBC appealing would be a ‘monumental waste of licence fee payers’ money’.
Following the ruling Ms Ahmed tweeted: ‘Very important. I’d like to thank the judge and panel members of my employment tribunal for their time and consideration and their judgement. Thank you.’
A statement from BBC Women said the unanimous judgment in Samira Ahmed’s employment tribunal case ‘deserves to be a real game changer, and not just at the BBC’.
‘Fifty years after the original equal pay legislation, women should not have to continue to find the courage to fight these battles,’ they said.
‘The BBC should now move to resolve the many outstanding cases which we know still exist and have been put through lengthy internal processes – some lasting years.’
Novelist Margaret Atwood was among those reacting to the news of Ms Ahmed’s win. She tweeted: ‘Congratulations! @SamiraAhmedUK @equalitynow.’
The action was hugely embarrassing for the corporation, which has faced massive controversy over its gender pay gap in recent years.
Opposing her claim, the BBC argued that the two presenters were not doing similar work.
The corporation said that Newswatch was a ‘relatively niche’ programme which aired on the BBC News channel, while describing Points Of View as ‘extremely well-known’.
Ms Ahmed said in a statement issued through the National Union Of Journalists (NUJ) that she was ‘glad’ the issue had been resolved.
Social media users including David Lammy, Kate Williams and Margaret Atwood congratulated Samira Ahmed for the legal victory
She said: ‘No woman wants to have to take action against their own employer. I love working for the BBC. I’m glad it’s been resolved.
‘I’d like to thank my union, the NUJ – especially Michelle Stanistreet, the general secretary; my legal team – Caroline Underhill of Thompsons Solicitors, and my barrister Claire Darwin; and everyone – all the men and women who’ve supported me and the issue of equal pay.
‘I’m now looking forward to continuing to do my job, to report on stories and not being one.’
NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: ‘It was an incredibly brave decision on Samira’s part to take forward this case. No-one wants to battle their employer in a public tribunal hearing, but the BBC’s failure to meaningfully negotiate made legal proceedings inevitable.
‘For the BBC this became a battle over the differences, as they saw it, between their internal divisional silos of News and Entertainment.
‘For the NUJ, this was simply a case of two roles that were commensurate, on two programmes that were supremely comparable, carried out by two high-profile experienced presenters.’
A statement from the BBC said: ‘Samira Ahmed is an excellent journalist and presenter and we regret that this case ever had to go to tribunal.
‘We’re committed to equality and equal pay. Where we’ve found equal pay cases in the past, we’ve put them right. However, for us, this case was never about one person, but the way different types of programmes across the media industry attract different levels of pay.
‘We have always believed that the pay of Samira and Jeremy Vine was not determined by their gender. Presenters – female as well as male – had always been paid more on Points Of View than Newswatch.
‘We’re sorry the tribunal didn’t think the BBC provided enough evidence about specific decisions – we weren’t able to call people who made decisions as far back as 2008 and have long since left the BBC.
‘In the past our pay framework was not transparent and fair enough, and we have made significant changes to address that. We’re glad this satisfied the tribunal that there was sufficient evidence to explain her pay now.
‘We’ll need to consider this judgment carefully. We know tribunals are never a pleasant experience for anyone involved. We want to work together with Samira to move on in a positive way.’
BBC Radio 4 presenter Jane Garvey praised Ms Ahmed on Twitter, writing: ‘Just brilliant @SamiraAhmedUK – it took real courage and she has it. £equalpay.’
Labour MP David Lammy tweeted: ‘Congrats @SamiraAhmedUK. Equal work deserves equal pay.’
Ms Ahmed has been among the female talents at the BBC to voice their concerns over pay equality following the outcry over former China editor Carrie Gracie’s salary.