11 months ago
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Cpl Sean Walsh claimed he was discriminated against at time when gay people were barred from serving in armed forces
An RAF veteran has lost what is believed to be one of the oldest employment tribunals ever brought after he tried to sue the Ministry of Defence for forcing him out because he was wrongly believed to be gay.
Cpl Sean Walsh launched the lawsuit over his discharge from the air force almost 50 years ago, describing the treatment he received as degrading and humiliating.
Walsh, 75, claims he was discriminated against when he was ordered to leave in 1975 after 12 years of service. At the time, there was a ban on gay people serving in the armed forces.
However, 48 years on, Walsh has lost his discrimination case after the tribunal ruled it did not have jurisdiction because what happened to Walsh was lawful at the time.
The claim by Walsh is thought to be one of the oldest of its kind in British legal history. It comes as the long-awaited LGBT veterans independent review on the impact of the pre-2000 ban on homosexuality in the armed forces is about to be published.
Walsh, who was a telegraphist in the RAF, said he was falsely accused while posted in south Asia.
