Sting to pay chef £25,000 compensation

Rock star Sting and his wife Trudie Styler have been ordered to pay their former chef Jane Martin £25,000 compensation after she won her claim for sexual discrimination.

Miss Martin won her case against the couple at an employment tribunal in Southampton after she claimed she was sacked by Miss Styler from their estate in Wiltshire because she became pregnant.

But the Lake House Estate, which was the named party in the case, has already won the right to appeal against the ruling and compensation amount.

The sum of compensation included £10,000 for injury to feelings and £16,000 for loss of earnings with deductions for redundancy pay already received by Miss Martin.

In his judgment, tribunal chairman James Simpson stated that the level of compensation for Miss Martin's hurt feelings was set after that amount was requested by her legal representative Michael Norman.

He said that the tribunal panel had expected the claim would have been much higher.

He added: "The tribunal was therefore surprised when Mr Norman, for the claimant, suggested the figure of £10,000 and that the claimant was not seeking aggravated damages or costs."

He said that the level for loss of earnings was set after Miss Martin argued that she had difficulty in getting similar employment to her work at Lake House rather than in hotels and restaurants.

Mr Simpson said: "The tribunal accepts the claimant's qualifications and experience do not equip her for employment in hotels and restaurants generally and it would be unreasonable to expect her now to seek such employment."

A spokeswoman for Dutton Gregory Solicitors, which represented Miss Martin, declined to comment on the compensation level.

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