Woman firefighter slept with 'sexist' boss

London: A female firefighter slept with her "sexist" boss in a desperate bid to end harassment by colleagues, a tribunal heard.

Kate Ellis, 40, said she decided to "become a notch on the bedpost" of Mark Butler, 43, to stop a bullying campaign against her as the only woman at the fire station.

She said being a firefighter was her dream but she was left "in a hell of a state" after she became the butt of a barrage of jokes, leering and innuendo over five years.

Colleagues placed bets on who would have sex with her first and some ogled her while she changed.

Ellis admitted the job was "tough on the female body", but said she kept in peak fitness and thought she had proved her toughness by working on a rail crash where seven people died.

However, station manager Butler mocked her ability and banned her from driving the fire engine. To win him over she had sex with him, but despite this the bullying continued and she quit the brigade, the panel was told.

Ellis has brought a claim of sexual discrimination and unfair dismissal against Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

She said it had always been her ambition to join the fire service, but marriage, having children and "other career patterns" meant she had to wait. She said she faced hostility from her boss from the start of her service with the "retain" team of volunteer firefighters in the village of Kingsclere in January 2003.

To "calm the situation" she decided to have a fling with Butler. She told the hearing in Reading: "I think he found me attractive. He has a reputation for being a man who gets what he wants with women and moves on."

Ellis, who later married fireman Joe Ellis, said Butler's attitude remained dismissive.

"Mark Butler said he could never totally rely on a female firefighter... "He said I would give up too easily. He said there was no way around this and one of us had to go, as we couldn't work together."

She alleged that in April 2005 a woman firefighter from another station visited and Butler told colleagues: "She's fit. I wouldn't mind getting into that fire kit."

Ellis' husband said that just before his future wife joined, he overheard Butler and another fireman in conversation saying they did not want "females messing up their station".

Ellis said his wife's treatment had left a "scar on all our lives". He added: "I would not recommend anyone to become a female firefighter." The hearing continues.