Lesbian soldier wins £187,000 harassment payout in UK

A lesbian soldier who claimed that she was sexually harrassed by a male sergeant has been awarded £187,000 in compensation.

Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher, 32, of the Royal Artillery, had sought £400,000. She told an employment tribunal in Leeds in November last year that her career in the Army had collapsed after she was propositioned by a sergeant. He suggested that she join in a threesome with another woman and that he might be able to convert her from being lesbian.

The incident took place in Royal Artillery stables in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, and the tribunal was told that she was subjected to a sustained campaign of victimisation after she rejected the advances. John Mackenzie, her solicitor, said that her position had become untenable after she had won her case against the MoD. Lance Bombardier Fletcher will end her career early next year after 12 years. The tribunal said: “This is as severe a case of victimisation following an allegation of sexual harassment as one could see in an employment tribunal.”