A lesbian army captain has lost her sexual discrimination case after an employment tribunal panel ruled against her.
Captain Karen Tait tried to sue the Ministry of Defense for sexual
discrimination after being sent home from Afghanistan in 2009 after engaging in a relationship with another front line soldier.
The 29 year-old admitted being romantically involved with colleague Caroline Graham, but claims the pair had put things “on
the back
burner” after being posted to Helmand Province in 2009.
She claimed she was discriminated against by commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Deborah Poneskis, but the panel at the Central London Employment Tribunal dismissed these allegations as “groundless”.
In fact, they heard that she behaved like a “love-struck teenager” with Sergeant Caroline Graham in a war zone, endangering operations and affecting her unit’s morale.
They ruled that Poneskis acted with good reason, and that she did not appear to have a homophobic agenda or hidden motives.
Tait brought the claim forward because she saw that soldiers’ heterosexual relationships had not been reprimanded in a similar way.
However, the investigation concluded that her judgment had been clouded and the relationship was “inappropriate”.
She has now been recommended to be discharged from the Army.
