Radio presenter Sarah Montague has won a £400,000 settlement and an apology from the
BBC after being treated “unequally” by the corporation for years.
Montague, who hosts the World At One show on BBC Radio 4, said she would “prefer not to be talking about my pay” but felt she had to respond to “erroneous” reports in the press.
The former Today programme presenter explained the move came after “a long period of stressful negotiations” in a series of
Twitter posts on Sunday.
“When I discovered the disparity in my pay and conditions, I was advised that rectifying it all could run into the millions. I chose not to seek such sums from the BBC but I did want some recognition that they had underpaid me,” she wrote.
“Last year after a long period of stressful negotiations, I accepted a settlement of £400,000 subject to tax and an apology from the BBC for paying me unequally for so many years.”Last year after a long period of stressful negotiations, I accepted a settlement of £400,000 subject to tax and an apology from the BBC for paying me unequally for so many years. 3/3— Sarah Montague (@Sarah_Montague) January 19, 2020Upon learning of the pay disparity, Montague wrote a column in 2018 for The Sunday Times stating that she felt her £133,000-a-year salary for Today, which she had left the month before, subsidised “other people’s lifestyles”.
“I felt incandescent with rage. Managers, who over the years had become friends, had known these figures and thought them acceptable,” she added.
At the time a BBC spokeswoman said it was committed to closing its gender pay gap by 2020.
This comes days after Samira Ahmed won her sex discrimination equal pay claim against the BBC.
The Newswatch presenter brought the corporation to an employment tribunal last year, claiming she was paid a sixth of what Jeremy Vine received for hosting the similar show Points of View.
“No woman wants to have to take action against their own employer,” she said. “I love working for the BBC. I’m glad it’s been resolved.”
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