TV presenter Miriam O’Reilly has won her age discrimination claim against the BBC.
In O’Reilly v BBC, this week, London central employment tribunal found that O’Reilly, an award-winning presenter of Countryfile, suffered age discrimination when the BBC replaced her with a younger presenter when the programme moved to primetime.
A combined claim of sex discrimination was not upheld. However the tribunal acknowledged that older women “faced particular disadvantage within the broadcast media”.
The tribunal further found that O’Reilly, aged 51 at the time, was victimised because her boss thought wrongly that she went to the press, and this led her to be dropped from Countryfile Magazine.
The tribunal found that “it would not be proportionate to do away with older presenters simply to pander to the assumed prejudice of some younger viewers”.
Camilla Palmer, partner at Leigh Day & Co, who represented O’Reilly, said: “This has huge implications for all broadcasters not just the BBC.
“The lesson is that presenters should be selected for their ability, not their age. Women and men on screen should not be hired or fired on the basis of their age.”
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