Seeking £42k, civil servant ‘bound to a chair by colleagues’
Tribunal considers damages for alleged bullying
A SENIOR civil servant who was allegedly bound to a chair and gagged by her male colleagues is seeking up to £42,000 in damages.
Dee-Ann Fitzpatrick, 49, claims she was driven to the brink of suicide and became a virtual recluse after receiving anonymous greeting cards teasing her about her age, sexuality and gender.
The Canadian national, who works for Marine Scotland, said she felt ‘humiliated’ after an alleged three-year campaign of harassment, which she has blamed on the men she worked with at the Scottish Government fisheries agency.
Her claims come just weeks after a picture of her bound to a chair emerged. This was said to be retribution for whistleblowing on what she claims was the misogynistic workplace culture.
The image prompted First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to call for an investigation.
A senior government aide is expected to speak to Miss Fitzpatrick’s family
‘Humiliated and degraded’
today following the conclusion of an employment tribunal yesterday.
A male colleague at Marine Scotland is said to have taken the picture in 2010. He allegedly told her: ‘This is what you get when you speak out against the boys.’ However the incident happened too long ago to be considered by the tribunal because of a ‘time bar’.
Instead, Miss Fitzpatrick’s case centred on greeting cards that arrived at her home in Janet stown, near Thurso, Caithness, and her harbour office in Scrabster between 2015 and 2017.
She told the tribunal that she considered ending her life after receiving the anonymous birthday and Valentine cards.
These had messages written on them including calling her a ‘dyke’ and an ‘old troll’, Miss Fitzpatrick claimed.
She raised the matter with her employer’s human resources (HR) department when the first card arrived in February 2015.
However, the tribunal heard that her grievance was never progressed by HR because the card was sent anonymously and Miss Fitzpatrick failed to name any possible suspects.
The Scottish Government defended its treatment of her case. Appearing at the tribunal in Aberdeen yesterday, Judith MacKinnon, head of People Advice, admitted that she had no direct involvement in the case but her junior staff were ‘concerned about giving evidence’ because of the highprofile media coverage.
Andrew Gibson, representing Marine Scotland, asked her why staff had not asked all employees at the Scrabster office about the cards. Mrs MacKinnon replied: ‘There were no named individuals. We didn’t feel that was appropriate. We wouldn’t
‘Damage to office relationships’
accuse members of our team without good reason.
‘It is very unusual to ask people who know nothing. That could cause damage to relationships in the office.’
But under cross examination, Miss Fitzpatrick’s solicitor Michael Briggs asked her: ‘If there was a black man working in the Scrabster office and someone left a note on his desk with the N-word on it, would you not investigate that because it was left anonymously?’
Mrs MacKinnon replied: ‘That could be as difficult as the current situation, without any information on where it came from.
‘The individual would need to provide some evidence that it was someone in the office.’
Miss Fitzpatrick said she felt ‘degraded as a woman’ after she received eight cards.
The tribunal has heard that two male colleagues, who Miss Fitzpatrick only named when she gave evidence, had never faced any criminal charges in relation to her claims and denied all knowledge of the cards.
Her failure to reveal their names at a preliminary hearing meant they were not cited as witnesses at the tribunal.
Mr Briggs said his client was seeking a maximum of £42,000 in damages.
A decision is expected in the next five to six weeks.