An industrial tribunal has heard that former BBC personality Donna Traynor endured ‘bullying and harassment’ after filing a claim about a plan to restructure her job at the network.
Traynor began her broadcasting career with RTÉ before moving to BBC Northern Ireland in 1989.
‘It is with profound regret that, after almost 33 years, I am leaving the job that I love and resigned from BBC Northern Ireland with immediate effect,’ the 57-year-old stated in a letter to her social media followers.
‘Because this is the subject of ongoing employment tribunal and other legal proceedings, I am not able to respond to any questions or comments about my reasons for leaving the organisation.’
Traynor’s lawyer, Patrick Lyttle KC, told the hearing that she had been hired to host the Newsline TV show five evenings a week and had received a lot of positive evaluations.
Mr Lyttle stated that she was evaluated by then-head of news Mr Smyth in December 2018 and was informed that ‘her job as a BBC Newsline presenter will not be curtailed.’
— Donna Traynor (@DonnaTraynorTV) November 15, 2021
However, the lawyer noted that his client then became a victim of ‘age discrimination, sex discrimination, and handicap prejudice’.
‘Over the course of a year we say the complainant was treated in a manner that amounted to bullying and harassment,’ he added.
Traynor was advised in June 2009 of a voluntary redundancy procedure for presenters at BBC Northern Ireland who were on TV and radio for 30 minutes or more on weekdays.
He stated that Traynor was informed of a plan to relocate her from the Newsline TV show to hosting the Evening Extra radio show on a rota basis with Tara Mills, alongside a male presenter, many evenings a week.
Mr Lyttle said that this was a ‘clear example of sex discrimination’ since the BBC wanted a female presenter on Evening Extra to attract more female listeners.
He said: ‘In this day and age it is incredible how this sort of approach could be conducted.”’
Traynor received the plan on her 55th birthday, according to the barrister.
He pointed to notes from follow-up meetings in which Ms Traynor indicated her dissatisfaction with the proposal and refused to accept it.
She then filed a formal complaint.
Mr Lyttle mentioned a discussion where Ms Traynor stated that she was being exploited to’settle a gender imbalance’ at Radio Ulster.
She said: ‘If I was Donald Traynor he would not be moving me to Evening Extra.’
Traynor has twice been nominated for the Royal Television Society’s presenter of the year award.
The tribunal will very likely last many days.
Source My Celebrity Life.