The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

'Sexpat' lawyer who published online erotic novel sacked from City firm – Telegraph.

As a general principle, how does the publication (in whatever medium) of a novel by a member of its staff bring a company into disrepute? I can't see that the firm in question was ever mentioned on the website where this novel was published by instalments. Surely this aspiring author was entitled to her freedom of expression? Frankly, I doubt most of us would ever have known who this lady worked for without the publicity attendant on her employer's actions.

Mind you, my sympathy for her has diminished somewhat since learning of her response to her firing. Rather than claiming unfair dismissal on the grounds that her creative endeavours were none of their damned business, she is alleging past sexual misconduct by another member of the firm. How odd that she should only now have remembered that!

I understand that a majority of unfair dismissal cases brought by women in England & Wales now feature such allegations. Either Englishmen are more sexually aggressive than the French would have us believe, or the ladies in question are gilding the lily in an attempt to secure a better settlement. O tempora, o mores!