In Ms M Keswani v British Broadcasting Corporation a former TV producer has lost her racism case against the BBC after claiming a panel ‘laughed’ at her Indian accent during an interview. Malika Keswani claimed that two out of three women on the all-white panel “grinned” when she answered questions during an interview for a job as a production manager at BBC Sport in Salford, Greater Manchester. Although she described her accent as “soft,” Ms Keswani told the London tribunal court that she could “feel it was my accent they were laughing at.”
The production boss, who at the time worked for the BBC’s Persian service, told the hearing that she later hired an “accent coach” in the wake of the rejection, and “became increasingly anxious and overwhelmed at work”.
She said she should have been given the job under the Equality Act 2010 but was unfairly marked down during her interview. Had she been ‘scored fairly’, she would have been ranked as an equal to second-placed candidates, meaning the BBC would have to give her the job under equality law as she is non-white, she said.
Keswani, who also chairs the diversity action group at The Production Guild, argued the ‘soft skills’ section of her interview put her at a disadvantage and claims it was racist. Ms Keswani said: “My anxiety was precipitated by the conduct of the BBC and the treatment offered to me thereafter. I had been under the impression the BBC was an equal opportunities employer, but I had faced nothing but barriers and suppression.
“My resignation made it clear that I considered I had been discriminated against as a result of being a BAME employee and the BBC was failing in its efforts to be inclusive.”
Ms Keswani, who was previously rejected for a job in the broadcaster’s news and current affairs division, said she felt “pigeon-holed” in her position because her “face fits”.
But the employment tribunal dismissed her claims, concluding that the panellists did not laugh at or mock her accent after it was found to be based on how she “felt” and not what was happening.
It also concluded that an all-white panel would not “inevitably be unknowingly biased against a BAME candidate” and that the BBC had taken steps to guard against bias, knowingly or unknowingly.
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