Employee ‘contacted Dignitas over abuse’

AN employee of a Scottish Government agency said she has become a recluse and contacted the Dignitas clinic after bullying by co-workers, a tribunal has heard.

Deeann Fitzpatrick claims she experienced bullying and harassment after she complained of a racist and misogynistic culture while employed at Marine Scotland.

In a hearing ahead of the tribunal Ms Fitzpatrick alleged she was taped to a chair and gagged by colleagues in 2010.

However, because more than three years had elapsed before the complaint was made, the tribunal is uanble to consider the allegations.

The 49-year-old Canadian national told the employment tribunal in Aberdeen yesterday she felt intimidated after being sent anonymous cards.

She said she suspected the cards, received on Valentine’s Day and her birthday every year between 2015 and 2017, were sent by colleagues.

A message in one called her an “old troll” and another warned her about trying to “climb the ladder of success”, she told the tribunal.

She said: “When I first started getting the cards, it made me feel awful. It’s actually made me become a recluse.

“With everything going on, I contacted Dignitas in Switzerland. I had had enough.”

Ms Fitzpatrick had worked for Marine Scotland since 2006. The alleged abuse is said to have taken place in the Scrabster office in the Highlands and continued after she was signed off.

The tribunal continues.