A group of four female BBC News presenters are preparing to do battle with their bosses next week over what they describe as a “rigged” recruitment process — but there remains a chance that the women could settle.Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Kasia Madera, and Annita McVeigh are set to begin their employment tribunal against the BBC on March 17 in London, marking the denouement of a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two years.Deadline understands that the BBC has held talks about a deal that could halt the legal proceedings, but no settlement has been reached and nothing is guaranteed at this stage. The BBC declined to comment ahead of the London Central Employment Tribunal hearing. Deadline has contacted Croxall, Giannone, Madera, and McVeigh for comment.A settlement could be in the interests of both sides. The BBC will want to avoid a costly, bruising, and headline-grabbing legal fight with four experienced female presenters, during which sensitive internal discussions will likely be made public. Meanwhile, Croxall, Giannone, Madera, and McVeigh are once again regular fixtures on the BBC News channel after a period off-air.During a preliminary hearing last year, the BBC News anchors claimed they were forced off-screen for a year and harassed after being victims of a “sham” hiring process in January 2023. The women applied to become a chief presenter on the retooled BBC News channel, but alleged that managers predetermined their preferred candidates before the hiring process began.The presenters argued that BBC News bosses “privately assured four other chief presenters – two men and two younger women – their jobs were safe.” After challenging the process, Croxall, Giannone, Madera, and McVeigh claimed that they lost their jobs, while some were demoted and others faced a pay cut.The successful candidates were Matthew Amroliwala, Christian Fraser, Yalda Hakim, Lucy Hockings, and Maryam Moshiri. Hakim has since left the BBC for Sky News. The BBC has stood by the recruitment process and an internal HR investigation concluded in 2023 that successful chief presenters were not promised their jobs before an open hiring procedure.Croxall, Giannone, Madera, and McVeigh have remained in lockstep throughout the proceedings and Croxall posted a selfie of the four women on International Women’s Day over the weekend. She thanked her colleagues for their “unstinting friendship and support.”Those in charge of the hiring process are no longer responsible for the BBC News channel. Former news channel editor Jess Brammar now serves as an editorial executive in BBC content, working closely with outgoing content chief Charlotte Moore. Naja Nielsen, digital director of BBC News, is leaving the corporation to join Swedish public broadcaster SVT.Croxall, Giannone, Madera, and McVeigh also made claims about gender pay discrimination, but a London Central Employment Tribunal judge ruled last year that this could not form part of the main hearing because they had previously reached salary settlements. Last November, the National Union of Journalists said the women planned on appealing the decision.
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