A tribunal in Southampton, England has found Sting and his wife Trudie Styler guilty of "shameful conduct" towards their former chef Jane Martin. The couple terminated Martin, who had worked for the couple for eight years, while she was pregnant. The tribunal ruled that the couple had unfairly dismissed Martin and that she had been the victim of sexual discrimination. Testimony had been given that Styler created a "climate of fear" over her staff.
Martin claimed she was forced to work 14-hour days while pregnant and Styler was unsympathetic of the extreme sickness the chef suffered from early in her pregnancy. .
The tribunal ruling said, "(Martin's departure) was so badly mishandled and conducted in such an incompetent manner that the true purpose shines through the subterfuge and calumnious actions seeking to suppress the true facts. Although Mrs Sumner (Styler) tried to distance herself from the various unlawful acts and have them carried out by minions on her behalf, 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'. 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 and have her machinations exposed to the light of day through cross-examination."
As a result of the ruling, the couple must pay compensation to the fired Martin in an amount to be determined at a hearing next month.
Styler has released the following statement, "I am devastated by this decision and I will appeal... I wholly reject the tribunal's findings on this issue. Sting and I have been lucky over many years to have worked with loyal and long serving colleagues and staff. Their collective loyalty and long service suggests that the picture of our household which Jane painted, and which the tribunal appears to have accepted, is a travesty."
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