News presenter Selina Scott has received an apology and a reported £250,000 payout from Channel Five after settling an age discrimination case against the broadcaster.
The Sun reports that Scott, 57, sued Five after the broadcaster went back on an agreement that she would cover Natasha Kaplinsky’s maternity leave.
Scott was reportedly axed because Five wanted a younger face, instead choosing Isla Traquair, 28 and Mart Barbet, 32, to cover for Kaplinsky. The full complaint was due to have been heard on Monday at an employment tribunal in central London.
According to the Daily Mail, Five settled the case before then because the channel ‘was petrified by claims that Scott was prepared to reveal potentially damaging information about Five.”
Journalist and TV presenter Joan Bakewell told The Independent that it was wrong for a job with ‘such a central role in society’to be confined to those under 50.
In The Observer, former BBC newsreader Anna Ford said that Scott’s case was indicative of a wider problem in Britain. ‘In America, there are women with white hair who are heads of banks, heads of corporations. Where are those women here?” she asked.
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