Sex change patient claims he was demoted after beginning surgery

A transsexual who moved from the US to Britian because of its 'liberal attitude' was demoted after having a sex change operation, a tribunal heard.

Jessica Bussert - who used to be Joshua Bussert - is seeking £500,000 damages for sex discrimination in what is thought to be the largest claim of its kind related to a sex change.

The IT manager - a married father-of-five - was still living as a man when he moved to the UK to work with Hitachi Data Systems in 2004, but was already planning a gender switch.

The former Mr Bussert, 41, believed British society would have a 'more liberal attitude' towards transsexuals than his native U.S. state of Indiana.

Backed by his 40-year-old author wife Sharon, he began to gradually make his appearance more feminine - first growing his hair long and wearing earrings and then removing his facial hair with electrolosis and taking hormones to develop breast tissue.

In March last year he took six weeks off work for breast and face operations in the U.S. But when the newly-titled Miss Bussert returned to work, she had been effectively demoted by her boss Steve Larkin, she told an employment tribunal in Reading.

She said her salary remained the same at £88,000 - but she had to answer to someone who had been hired as her equal several months earlier.

She said: 'This was a totally humiliating experience for me, especially on the first day of my return following the surgery and the assumption of my new identity and gender role.'

Dressed in a grey suit jacket and short red skirt, Miss Bussert told the tribunal she had doubts about Mr Larkin's attitude towards transsexuals before she had told anyone of her plans.

At a dinner in October 2004, one of her colleagues commented on the length of her hair. 'I responded in a light hearted way by saying, "Oh, I'm planning on having a sex change."

'Most of those present appeared to receive it as being humorous, with the exception of Mr Larkin. 'His response was something like, "don't do that to me, Josh. I had to work in an office with someone who did that once and it was weird."'

Miss Bussert claims Mr Larkin avoided dealing directly with her after the operation and often refused to reply to e-mails and phone calls.

She said she felt 'victimised' and when she launched her discrimination claim Mr Larkin gave her 'the most devastating employee evaluation of my entire professional career'.

She went on sick leave suffering from 'workplace stress, clinical depression, anxiety and panic disorder'.

She has also launched a £2million claim against Hitachi in the U.S., where she worked for three years before requesting the transfer to London. Mr Larkin and Hitachi dispute the claims.

Tess Gill, counsel for the company, said Miss Bussert's employer's were fully supportive and allowed her as much time as she needed for medical appointments.

She added that questions were raised about her performance because she had an 'aggressive' working method which alienated colleagues. The tribunal is scheduled to last ten days.

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