Woman police officer wins record damages

The Guardian has a story today about a woman police officer – PC Barbara Lynford -who has just been awarded £273,000 by a tribunal, after it found that Sussex police had discriminated against her.

It is believed to be the highest award to a public sector worker, and she is in line to win a further £300,000 for the loss of her pension. The size of the award led to criticism and claims that she had suffered just a bit of "banter".

Banter? Her ordeal included being exposed to "semi-pornographic" magazines, being told to "fuck off" during training and in front of her partner at a Christmas party. An instructor told her in a training session to come to the front of the room, promising he "would not look at her chest".

But that's not all. After she won her claim, Sussex police told her she would have to leave the force because of illness but refused to let her retire on ill health grounds. After a year, it finally relented. It has still not apologised to her.

Not surpringly, the tribunal awarded her damages for the "high-handed, insulting, malicious or oppressive way" in which she was treated.

Read the full story in the Guardian.