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Scottish government worker bound to chair taking case to tribunal

Conrad Landin is at Holyrood

NICOLA STURGEON said today that she was “absolutely horrified” by pictures of a Scottish government whistleblower gagged and taped to a chair.

DeeAnn Fitzpatrick said she had been the victim of bullying and misogyny while working at the offices of Marine Scotland in Scrabster, Caithness.

Shocking images show her tied up and gagged with tape in an incident alleged to have taken place after she blew the whistle on her treatment. She is now pursuing the case at an employment tribunal.

At First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Labour Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant said Ms Sturgeon “cannot be anything other than shocked at the photograph published by the BBC showing one aspect of DeeAnn’s abuse.”

Ms Grant asked: “Will the First Minister now intervene, investigate the abuse and stop DeeAnn’s persecution at the hands of Marine Scotland?

“And will she also remove the gagging clause that stops DeeAnn telling her own story? Because it is in the public interest that she is heard.”

Ms Sturgeon replied: “Like everyone else who has seen it, I am absolutely horrified at the photograph that has been in the media over the past 24 hours and I’m also horrified at the circumstances in which that photograph is alleged to have been taken.

“Bullying, abuse, sexism, racism have no place in any workplace and let me be very clear today: they will not be tolerated within the Scottish government or within our agencies.”

Ms Fitzpatrick, a Canadian national, was allegedly mocked after she had a miscarriage and threatened by colleagues. She has accused other civil servants of telling her that they did not want “a woman, especially a foreign woman,” working at Marine Scotland.

When she was tied up, the tribunal heard that her colleague Reid Anderson told her: “This is what you get when you speak out against the boys.” Mr Anderson has not responded to the allegations.

The First Minister said she was “somewhat limited in what I can say” because the employment tribunal case and an internal investigation are ongoing.

But she added that she had asked Scotland’s most senior civil servant to review the case “and to report to me personally on her conclusions as soon as possible.”

Marine Scotland is the country’s official watchdog for fisheries and aquaculture.

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