Lesbian soldier wins harassment claim

A lesbian soldier whose career in the Army collapsed after she was sexually harassed by a male sergeant who claimed he could "turn her straight" won nearly £190,000 compensation yesterday. The Ministry of Defence was ordered to make the payout to Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher after she was routinely pestered for sex during her time at an Army stables in RAF Topcliffe in North Yorkshire.

An employment tribunal in Leeds earlier this year heard that her career collapsed when she spurned the advances of her boss who propositioned her with a text message that read: "Look I might be able to convert you. You don't know what you are missing."

Ms Fletcher, 32, won her claim of sex discrimination and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation at the start of the year but the tribunal had to decide how much compensation she was entitled to.

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A panel at the Leeds Employment Tribunal yesterday awarded Ms Fletcher a total of £186,896, which included a punitive award of £50,000 in exemplary damages, £20,000 in aggravated damages and £30,000 for hurt feelings. A further £65,558 was ordered to be paid in respect of lost earnings and pension entitlement whilst the remainder of the total is made up of Ms Fletcher's court costs and interest.

Ms Fletcher resigned in February after serving in the Royal Artillery for 10 years. In its judgment, the tribunal found Ms Fletcher had been subjected to a "sustained campaign" of victimisation and sexual harassment. "This is as severe a case of victimisation following an allegation of sexual harassment as one could see in an employment tribunal," the judgment ruled. "The claimant was subjected to a sustained campaign of victimisation over a lengthy period. The victimisation extended to imposition of disciplinary sanctions, impinging the claimant's mental stability and obstructing her transfer to a more suitable posting."

In a damning indictment of the MoD, the tribunal also ruled that the Army hierarchy paid "no more than lip service to the concepts of equal opportunities and the prevention of discrimination". But some politicians and Army groups criticised the amount of compensation awarded to Ms Fletcher, pointing out that it was far higher than many of the payouts to soldiers who had been wounded in action.

The figure exceeds the £161,000 recently awarded to Marine Ben McBean, 21, who had to have both his legs amputated after he was caught in a mine blast in Afghanistan. It is also more than three times the £57,000 awarded to Private Jamie Cooper, 19, who lost the use of his leg after being hit by shrapnel in Basra and later contracted a superbug whilst undergoing treatment back in Britain.

Tory MP Patrick Mercer said: "I feel extremely sorry for L/Cpl Fletcher but the fact remains her body and soul appear to be intact unlike numerous other soldiers who have been very badly injured. The priorities are all wrong and it is extremely damaging to the morale of fighting soldiers."

Many of the servicemen and women writing on the Army Rumour Service website last night also voiced their disapproval. "The whole system is rotten to the core," wrote one, while another said: "[Ms Fletcher] should not have been treated like that, but the payout is ridiculous compared to the compensation given to wounded soldiers."