Tuesday, January 11, 2011

BBC guilty of age discrimination

The BBC has apologized to nature presenter Miriam O'Reilly (pictured) after it was found guilty of age discrimination at a high profile employment tribunal. O'Reilly was axed by BBC1 controller Jay Hunt early last year when BBC1 moved the Sunday morning rural affairs show "Countryfile" into to a weekday primetime slot. Although the show's older male anchors made the transition to primetime, O'Reilly and two other female presenters were replaced by younger presenters. She took the BBC to court claiming that she had been dropped because managers thought she was "too old" for prime time television, and during the course of her evidence said she had been offered hair dye and been warned about getting wrinkles by production staff on the show. O'Reilly could be in line for a significant payout after the tribunal found that the BBC had been guilty of discriminating against her on grounds of age. The tribunal also held that her subsequent treatment by BBC bosses had amounted to victimization.

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