A former recruitment consultant who claimed her line manager forced her to have a private lap-dance with him in order to win business has had her complaint of unfair dismissal thrown out by an employment tribunal.

Rachel Kelly, of Isleworth, Middlesex, had alleged that her line manager, Danny Whelan of Richmond-based IT specialist IDPP Consulting, had forced her into accepting a private dance with him and the client at Spearmint Rhino’s flagship club in central London on 29 August 2007.

The London South employment tribunal also heard how another client “became physical” with Miss Kelly following a pub meeting on 30 November 2007.

Miss Kelly, a former consultant in the company’s new business team, resigned in October 2008 after a spell off work with stress. She had been disciplined in April of that year for poor performance.

The tribunal, chaired by Judge Gumbiti-Zimuto, dismissed her claims of unfair dismissal, sex discrimination and victimisation, ruling that a man would not have been treated any differently to her. She was suing both Mr Whelan and the company, and was thought to be claiming in the region of £175,000.