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.
