£1million payout ...but no amount of money could make up for my pain or sacrifice
Off icer speaks out after suing ‘sexist’ police in landmark case
A FORMER armed response officer awarded almost £1 million in a police victimisation case has said no amount of compensation will ‘ever make up for the pain or sacrifices’ she endured.
It was announced on Friday that Police Scotland will pay out £947,909 to Rhona Malone after an employment tribunal ruled she had been victimised.
Last night Ms Malone said she had experienced an ‘excruciating and torturous few years’. However, she hopes that her winning a claim against her former employer will ‘benefit many women now and in the future’.
Ms Malone, 46, took the police force to a tribunal after her boss told her two female firearms officers should not be deployed together when there were ‘sufficient male staff on duty’.
She had a claim of discrimination dismissed but successfully sued Police Scotland for victimisation.
The tribunal ruled that a ‘culture of sexism’ existed in the firearms division, which was branded an ‘absolute boys’ club’.
She criticised the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) – which represents rank and file officers – as well as Police Scotland.
Ms Malone said: ‘Unfortunately, both organisations failed me and grossly underestimated my determination for acknowledgment and accountability.’
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone provided a personal apology to Ms Malone, who now works as an estate agent. In its judgment last
October, the employment tribunal issued a statement on her behalf, saying she had been on ‘quite a journey, sadly one that could have so easily been avoided’.
Ms Malone said yesterday that her ‘quest for justice’ had ‘come at great personal risk’ with possible costs ‘in the region of six figures’.
But she added: ‘At long last I have closure to what has been an excruciating and torturous few years but one that I hope will benefit many women now and in the future.
‘It is important for me to say that had the individuals in positions of trust and authority who victimised and suppressed my pursuit for acknowledgment and accountability been honest, shown moral integrity and empathy for my situation, then perhaps Police Scotland could have taken the opportunity to communicate and evidence a far more progressive and inclusive organisation.’
Ms Malone also said that, if she had received ‘care and support from the Scottish Police Federation, then perhaps Police Scotland would not have responded with contempt or attempted to suppress and deny me justice’.
She insisted that, with the ‘notable exception’ of one person, the SPF had ‘failed me as a member when I most needed their assistance’. Further hitting out at the organisation, she added: ‘At a time when I was at my most vulnerable and reliant on their support financially and mentally, I was abandoned, ignored and discarded.’
Ms Malone said her ‘attempts to obtain justice were obstructed because they withdrew legal support for my case in 2019’ when she refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement and accept a ‘derisory financial settlement amount’.
However, she added: ‘I would like it to be known that no amount of compensation would ever make up for the pain or sacrifices I made to hold Police Scotland to account.’
Ms Malone said she planned to disable her social media and ‘disappear for a while’ to regain privacy and protect her family.
An SPF spokesman said: ‘The SPF withdrew legal assistance following independent legal advice that the settlement terms offered to Ms Malone following a judicial mediation were reasonable, and were unlikely to be better than what a tribunal would award, based on the available evidence.
‘We will never know if the settlement offer made following the mediation would have been shown to be reasonable, as Police Scotland settled the claim prior to a financial award being made.
‘Ms Malone’s claims that she was abandoned, ignored and discarded by the federation are demonstrably untrue.’