Complaint
The article included the case of an ethnic minority academic said to have been βon a grade just below professor when she discovered she was being paid about Β£8,000 less than white male lecturers on lower grades in the same departmentβ.Β A reader questioned the accuracy of this statement, on the basis that the salary grade structure could not accommodate a disparity of that magnitude.
Outcome
The inaccuracy lay in the reference to βlower gradesβ; in fact the academic in question had been on the same grate as the white male lecturers, and the wording complained of gave a misleading impression of the nature of the pay disparity.
Upheld
Further action
The article has been corrected and teams have been reminded of the importance of making regular checks for accuracy prior to publication.