Lesbian soldier gains compensation after unwanted sex offers

Thailand News.Net
Tuesday 23rd September, 2008

A lesbian soldier in the UK has claimed senior British Army officers ordered her to keep quiet about unwanted sex offers by a male sergeant at Army stables.

Kerry Fletcher, a former lance bombardier in the Royal Artillery, is seeking 400,000 pounds in compensation from the Ministry of Defence over her experiences.

An employment tribunal in Leeds has already found that she was the victim of direct sexual discrimination and harassment.

Fletcher, 32, described the sergeant as a known womaniser.

She said he asked her to join in a threesome with another woman and boasted in a text message: "Look, I might be able to convert you. You don't know what you are missing."

Fletcher also claimed that the sergeant tried to destroy her career because she spurned his advances, and that she was signed off sick with stress as a result.

The court found that the stress of coping with persistent pestering for sex and trivial disciplinary allegations meant Fletcher was unable to continue working.

The sergeant has insisted Fletcher was only disciplined at the Royal Artillery stables in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, after she had been regularly late for work and insubordinate.

Despite the sergeant’s denials of any wrongdoing, the tribunal panel found in Fletcher's favour on the basis of her "powerful" evidence.

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