BBC journalist wins race dispute

A BBC journalist who claimed she had suffered racial discrimination at work has reached a settlement worth tens of thousands of pounds.

An industrial tribunal had been told that Sharan Sandhu's bosses at the BBC World Service were like "a boys' club" with a "colonial" editorial culture.

The highly-qualified 51-year-old journalist, who is of Kenyan Asian origin, was repeatedly overlooked for promotion after joining the Corporation in 1990.

The BBC had vigorously fought the high-profile test case since it was lodged three years ago but its lawyers settled yesterday after evidence presented to the tribunal by the BBC's own employees. The exact figure is not being disclosed under the terms of a confidentiality agreement.

"It was something worth fighting for," Miss Sandhu said. "I feel I have struck a blow for journalists from ethnic minorities. They are the most vulnerable people at the most junior level and their promotion prospects haven't been good in the last 10 years.

"I regret it was necessary to take the case in the first place. I kept quiet for 10 years waiting for things to change. Things did not change. And that's why I had to resort to legal action.

"I had a belief that I was doing the right thing. It was my duty and I was fighting for something that was right and just. And that's the only thing that's sustained me all this time."

Asked if she thought the BBC would be embarrassed by the outcome, she said: "I think you'll have to ask the BBC that. I just want things to be different, I want things to be fair and I want them to be equal. It needs to ensure that there are changes that reflect the multicultural society around them."

Several witnesses at the tribunal were damning about the working environment at the World Service.

Mrs Deborah Gommes, a secretary who sat in on management meetings, said executives regularly indulged in character assassinations of staff members, including Miss Sandhu.

Another witness, Penny Gibbins, spoke of racist and sexist behaviour by some senior white colleagues towards junior Asian and black female workers, some of whom eventually left.

She said that derogatory comments were openly made about other ethnic minority women, which were sexually offensive. This undermined the work of non-white colleagues and generated a climate of fear.

Miss Sandhu has not yet decided whether to continue her journalistic career.