Bullying, shouting, swearing, climate of fear, intimidation, reduced to tears? Read this

Bullying at the BBC
by Christian Gysin
Tuesday February 18, 2003

© Daily Mail

Case history #45 - update
[See part 1]

Presenter who blew whistle on 'bullying' at BBC fights his sacking

Veteran Broadcaster Laurie Mayer took on the might of the BBC yesterday as he claimed he was unfairly sacked after standing up for junior staff who were bullied.

And he came face to face with Laura Ellis, the young boss he claimed caused a "vindictive climate of fear". It is thought to be the first time the pair have met since his sacking from the BBC's South East Today programme in June last year.

Mayer - a former main bulletin newsreader and one of the best-known faces of the BBC - claims he was fired by Mrs Ellis after highlighting a culture of 'intimidation'.

He styles himself the 'whistleblower who got wasted' and describes Mrs Ellis, the head of regional and local programmes, as a 'loyal apparatchik' of Director-General Greg Dyke. Mayer, 56, says she was often 'too busy lecturing executives on the art of leadership and rolling out Dyke's "Cut the Crap" slogan'.

At a preliminary hearing yesterday in Ashford, Kent, BBC lawyers attempted to have Mayer's case thrown out on the grounds that he had not been a corporation 'employee or worker'. Instead he was 'hired talent' and the BBC was merely 'one of his customers'.

But this claim was rejected and the case will go to a full tribunal.

Mayer told the hearing that he had worked for the BBC on a freelance basis for almost 30 years and had fronted Breakfast News as well as the One O'Clock and Six O'Clock bulletins. He joined Sky TV and also worked as PR man for Harrods owner Mohammed Al Fayed before returning to the BBC two years ago when he was hired to present a futuristic 'all-electronic' South East Today news programme.

He became unhappy about a 'bullying culture' within the newsroom at Tunbridge Wells and after 14 months he was sacked - he claims after standing up for younger members of staff.

In an article for the Mail on Sunday, written after his contract was terminated, he said: 'The brave new world of the BBC can be a terrifying place to work. I saw able, keen young staff reduced to nervous wrecks. I became something of an agony uncle to the youngsters. They felt they had no-one else to turn to.'

He claimed complaints were ignored by managers and when he wrote to Greg Dyke his concerns 'fell on deaf ears'.

Much of Mayer's anger was directed at Mrs Ellis, who 'trotted out Dyke's mantra of corporate change,' he said. 'She spouts platitudes like 'dissent is obligatory' and 'no-one will be disadvantaged by telling the truth'. But her rhetoric turned out to be hollow. 'At her little corner of the BBC dissent is ruthlessly stamped upon.'

BBC counsel Gerard Clark insisted yesterday that Mayer was a 'self-employed sole trader'. He added: 'We would argue that he was a talent who was hired and in that case he was not an employee or worker but that the BBC was his client or customer.'

Mrs Ellis, who is in her 30s, told the hearing that Mayer was a 'show and go' presenter. She said staff presenters would contribute more to planning issues within the newsroom, and suggested that Mayer would simply arrive at the TV studio, present his programme, and then leave.

But Mayer himself told the hearing: 'I had an assigned desk, my own pigeon hole for post, my name on email circulation and my contact details on the staff list.' His counsel Damian Brown said: 'He signed a standard BBC contract and the corporation had the first claim on his services.

'He was integrated into the BBC and had his own line manager. He signed a contract on the BBC's terms and they had the power in the relationship - they were not a customer or client.'

Tribunal chairman Mrs Frances Spencer ruled that Mayer had won his application to a full hearing. 'We find that Mr Mayer was both a worker and an employee', she said.

After the hearing the presenter said: 'I am delighted that I have overcome the first hurdle. Obviously there is a long way to go and we travel on in hope.'

© Daily Mail

[See part 1]

[September 2003: employment tribunal reserves judgment | case lost but moral victory gained]

Back to bullying case history index