A sergeant told a lesbian soldier he might be able to "convert" her, an employment tribunal has heard. Lance Bombardier Kerry Fletcher, 31, from Birmingham, claims she was picked on because of her sexual orientation and has begun a discrimination case. She alleges a sergeant sent her text messages indicating he wanted to have sex with her while she was working at an Army stables in North Yorkshire. Miss Fletcher said her life was made "unbearable" when she rejected him. undefined undefined In a witness statement she made for the Leeds hearing, she gave details of messages sent by the sergeant, including one which said: "Look I might be able to convert you. You don't know what you are missing." Miss Fletcher, who is originally from Sheffield, said: "He started sending me messages of a sexual nature. It was clear that he had in mind that he would have sex with me." She said the text messages started to worry her as they were so personal. "I thought this was completely out of control," she said. "I was very worried about my future. I was reluctant to go back to work and face him." She said the sergeant also made comments about her then girlfriend, saying she was "minging". Miss Fletcher said the senior NCO, who cannot be named, did not take her rejection well and, as he has considerable standing in the unit, he began to make life difficult for her. "He was able to make life unbearable for me in the regiment," she said. She went on: "It became clear that the authorities in the regiment took [the sergeant's] side against me. This became more so when I began my tribunal proceedings as the regimental authorities took this as a direct attack on the regiment." Miss Fletcher, who said her current girlfriend is a police officer, has been in the Army for ten years. She alleges sex discrimination and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 11th November 2007 - 11:34am