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A lesbian shop worker could receive up to £124,000 after an employment tribunal ruled that she was subjected to homophobic harassment and unfairly dismissed by the retail group Next.
Marlene Bielak told a Merseyside tribunal that her former colleague called her a “f**king dyke” and played All The Lazy Dykes by Morrisey each time she entered the shop’s storeroom, This is London reports.
Bielak told the tribunal that Katrina and Neil Davies, a married couple who both worked at the same store, made it clear that they were disgusted by her lifestyle and questioned whether she and her partner were fit to raise their seven-year old son.
Bielak, who joined Next in October 2003, said the company did not act on the formal complaint she made concerning homophobic bullying and harassment and, after 14 months, she was forced to resign.
She is claiming £124,000 for loss of earnings and hurt feelings. The tribunal will rule on the compensation in July.
