Ms Angela Quinn
Sent by email to: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
30 November 2010
Dear Ms Quinn
Request for Information – RFI20101462
Thank you for your request for information of 2 November 2010 seeking the following
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act):
1. In the last financial year (2009/10), how many employment tribunal
claims were taken against the BBC?
2. What was the estimated total cost in defending these claims? Do not
include costs covered by any insurance policy.
3. How many of these claims were won by the BBC?
4. How many of these claims were lost by the BBC?
5. How many were settled and what was the total cost?
6. How many have not been concluded?
The reference number for your request is RFI20101462 and I now respond as follows:
Question 1
34 Claims (by 33 claimants)
Question 2
For industrial and employment tribunals for the financial year 2009/10, the fees for our
external specialist counsel/solicitors amounted to £203,627 plus VAT. In house
employment lawyers also acted on these cases.
Question 3
One Claim was won in its entirety
One Claim was won on all counts apart from Unfair Dismissal
Question 4
One Claim was lost in part - Unfair Dismissal
Question 5
22 Claims settled
Total cost £ 379,125. In addition, £24,386 plus VAT was paid as a contribution towards
Claimant’s legal costs.
Question 6
Four
The other five claims were withdrawn or dismissed.
Please note that I have not included information relating to BBC Worldwide Limited, the
commercial arm of the BBC. As a commercial subsidiary of the BBC, which is legally separate
from the BBC, BBC Worldwide Limited is not covered by the Act (Section 6(1)(b)(ii)) for
information other than that which it holds on behalf of the BBC.
Appeal Rights
If you are not satisfied that the BBC has complied with the Act in responding to your request you
have the right to an internal review by a BBC senior manager or legal adviser. Please contact us at
the address above, explaining what you would like us to review under the Act and including your
reference number.
If you are not satisfied with the internal review, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner,
whose contact details are:
Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
Website: http://www.ico.gov.uk/
Yours sincerely,
Rebecca Turner
Advisor, Information Policy & Compliance