British Court hears unprecedented case against BBC

A British court has begun hearing an unprecedented collective lawsuit accusing the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) of racism, disability-related discrimination, harassment, unfair dismissal, and misleading the audience in its coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza.

The employment Tribunal is scheduled to hear the case, filed by five journalists of Arab origin, over ten days. It is the first case of its kind brought by this number of journalists from the BBC Arabic Service of the BBC World Service against the renowned institution.

The five complainants are Ahmed Rouaba, of Algerian origin; Dima Ouda, of Syrian origin; Nahed Najar, of Palestinian origin; and Mohamed El-Ashiry and Amer Sultan, both of Egyptian origin. The plaintiffs in the case are represented by John Barnes, of Albertson Solicitors.

According to court documents, the complainants—except Rouaba—accuse the BBC and Mohamed Yehia, a senior manager in the BBC Arabic Service, of being responsible for their unfair dismissal following a selection process they described as a “sham”, after they stood up against what they call unlawful practices that had continued for years.

The journalists called the selection process “a sham” exercise, where four of them were “unfairly made redundant because they all supported Rouba”.

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“All the journalists who stood up for Rouaba were all made redundant”, they said in their court documents. 

The BBC argues its selection process was “fair”.

In their claims, the complainants place primary responsibility on Yehia for dismissing them in retaliation for supporting their colleague Algerian colleague during internal investigations and in a racism case he won against the BBC two years ago. They also accuse him of retaliating against them because they reported to senior BBC management what they described as the deteriorating professional standards that had become characteristic of the BBC Arabic Service’s output.

The five journalists with their lawyer John Barnes on their way to Employment Tribunal

The five journalists with their lawyer John Barnes on their way to Employment Tribunal

A view of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Headquarters in London, United Kingdom

The five journalists also complain that they were retaliated against for warning about breaches of the BBC Guidelines in coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza and several major events. They say BBC Arabic made serious editorial mistakes which could have legal consequences.

Rouaba had previously filed a case before the Employment Tribunal in 2023 complaining of being subjected to racism. In its ruling issued in early 2024, the ET found that Rouaba had suffered “racial harassment” from fellow journalist Safaa Jibara, and that the BBC failed to conduct the necessary investigations.

The court also found that the BBC’s investigations into complaints were not carried out even in accordance with the corporation’s policy. It further heard evidence showing that when the BBC brought in an independent external investigator to examine Rouaba’s complaints, BBC management altered the findings of the investigation after they had upheld complaints.

The ET concluded that “it is striking that at every turn, managers and HR advisers” at the BBC “failed to apply the correct definition of harassment as set out in their own policy.” Rouaba also claims in his case that the BBC did not respect the court’s ruling and instead “rewarded” Jibara, who had racially harassed him.

The plaintiffs also complain that the BBC retained Jibara in what they described as a “sham” process despite the tribunal ruling that he had racially harassed Rouaba. They also challenge the fairness of keeping Jibara—who worked in the online platform—in a television role despite having no professional experience in television.

Court documents reveal that the five journalists submitted a formal complaint to Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director-General, complaining of “racism, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and collusion” by senior management—represented by the Human Resources department—with managers in mistreating employees.

The BBC says an investigation was conducted into the complaint but did not substantiate the allegations or find any wrongdoing. The corporation also denies persecuting the journalists or committing legal violations.

The BBC had dismissed the journalists—who have long and varied professional experience—except for Rouaba, in October 2024.

 The hearing continues. 

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