Tribual finds lesbians taunted at work

BRISTOL, England, July 7 (UPI) -- Two British lesbians have been awarded $35,700 for unfair treatment from male colleagues at their former workplace in Bristol, sources said.

Saleswomen Beth Moules and Sharleen Amos, both 25, were taunted and subjected to crude insults about their sexual orientation and their relationship as a couple, the Bristol Employment Tribunal ruled Monday.

Moules and Amos, who have since separated, worked at Aquatec Rainsoft, a manufacturer of water purification equipment, in 2006 and 2007, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Aquatec Rainsoft executives ignored the couple's complaints of sexual harassment, with boss Stephen Baker-Joy, 57, telling Moules and Amos to stop complaining because "lesbians never had and never would suffer in the way that Jews had," documents given the tribunal said.

The company violated the women's dignity and created a hostile and humiliating environment for them, the tribunal said in its ruling.