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Sting's wife guilty of treating cook 'shamefully'
By Jonathan Brown
Published: 11 May 2007
The saintly image of the rock star Sting and his wife Trudie Styler was left badly tarnished yesterday after an employment tribunal found that they had sexually discriminated against their pregnant cook.
In a damning judgment following a unanimous verdict, the tribunal described Ms Styler's treatment of Jane Martin as "shameful". Ms Martin was sacked after becoming pregnant after eight years of service to the couple, who are high-profile champions of human rights and ecological causes.
The 41-year-old cook was unlawfully dismissed from her £28,000-a-year job by the couple's management company, Lake House Estate, the Southampton tribunal found. In passing judgment, the panel singled out Ms Styler, referred to under her married name of Sumner, for extraordinary personal criticism. It accused the actress of manipulating staff and then failing to take responsibility for her actions.
It said: "Although Mrs Sumner tried to distance herself from various unlawful acts and have them carried out by minions, when the evidence is looked at holistically, her involvement is clear. She is without doubt the driving force manipulating others to perform her dirty work."
It concluded: "The position is aggravated by her lack of courage either to face the claimant direct and inform her she was no longer required or attend the tribunal to give evidence."
The Sumners said they would appeal against the ruling but now face the unwelcome prospect of being forced to pay out record damages next month. Sexual discrimination case awards carry no upper limit.
During the hearing last March, Ms Martin claimed that despite being pregnant she was required to work 14-hour days. On one occasion, when she was in her final trimester, she was ordered to travel from the couple's 800-acre estate near Salisbury to their London home overlooking St James' Park just to make soup and salad for Styler, she said.
In a statement issued by Ms Styler's solicitors yesterday, the mother-of-four said it was "risible to anyone that knows me" to believe that she had discriminated against a pregnant woman. "I am devastated that the tribunal's judgment makes this unjust and unfair attack on Sting and me" she said. "It does not, we believe, reflect the facts which were put before the hearing."
By Jonathan Brown
Published: 11 May 2007
The saintly image of the rock star Sting and his wife Trudie Styler was left badly tarnished yesterday after an employment tribunal found that they had sexually discriminated against their pregnant cook.
In a damning judgment following a unanimous verdict, the tribunal described Ms Styler's treatment of Jane Martin as "shameful". Ms Martin was sacked after becoming pregnant after eight years of service to the couple, who are high-profile champions of human rights and ecological causes.
The 41-year-old cook was unlawfully dismissed from her £28,000-a-year job by the couple's management company, Lake House Estate, the Southampton tribunal found. In passing judgment, the panel singled out Ms Styler, referred to under her married name of Sumner, for extraordinary personal criticism. It accused the actress of manipulating staff and then failing to take responsibility for her actions.
It said: "Although Mrs Sumner tried to distance herself from various unlawful acts and have them carried out by minions, when the evidence is looked at holistically, her involvement is clear. She is without doubt the driving force manipulating others to perform her dirty work."
It concluded: "The position is aggravated by her lack of courage either to face the claimant direct and inform her she was no longer required or attend the tribunal to give evidence."
The Sumners said they would appeal against the ruling but now face the unwelcome prospect of being forced to pay out record damages next month. Sexual discrimination case awards carry no upper limit.
During the hearing last March, Ms Martin claimed that despite being pregnant she was required to work 14-hour days. On one occasion, when she was in her final trimester, she was ordered to travel from the couple's 800-acre estate near Salisbury to their London home overlooking St James' Park just to make soup and salad for Styler, she said.
In a statement issued by Ms Styler's solicitors yesterday, the mother-of-four said it was "risible to anyone that knows me" to believe that she had discriminated against a pregnant woman. "I am devastated that the tribunal's judgment makes this unjust and unfair attack on Sting and me" she said. "It does not, we believe, reflect the facts which were put before the hearing."
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