Jess Varnish to sue UK Sport and British Cycling

The BBC reported on Friday that Varnish was taking legal action on the ground of sex discrimination, detriment for whistleblowing, victimisation and unfair dismissal.

The 2011 World Championship silver medalist was dropped from British Cycling's elite performance programme, and subsequently accuse then technical director Shane Sutton of using sexist language towards her. In one of the instances, Varnish accused Sutton of telling her to "go and have a baby."

Sutton resigned shortly afterwards but was cleared of eight of the nine allegations against him. British Cycling's investigation into the allegations however, found Sutton guilty of using "inappropriate and discriminatory language."

Varnish said in March she was considering legal action against British Cycling, though the BBC claims this has been expanded to include UK Sport, which had attempted to dismiss the case.

Varnish will now take the organisations to an employment tribunal, provided her legal team are able to successfully prove as part of the programme, Varnish was an employee of UK Sport and British Cycling.