Police pay out £431,000 in sex assault and bullying employment law case

As reported via BBC News today, a former police officer who was sexually assaulted and complained about bullying and misogyny at a Moray station has accepted a payout from Police Scotland of £431,968.

Gemma MacRae, who left the force in 2021, had started legal action through Livingstone Brown against Police Scotland but settled last month.

She told BBC News the last seven years had been devastating and called for complete reform of the police complaints system.

The force's deputy chief constable said misogyny, sexism and discrimination of any kind was utterly unacceptable and he would meet Gemma to apologise for her treatment.

Commenting on the case, our employment law solicitor, Stephen Smith, said:

“We have acted for female officers of Police Scotland from Dumfries to Inverness who have said the same things.

They have fallen foul of a male-dominated management hierarchy which has been able to use internal procedures to delay and avoid investigating what has happened to them.

They have had to use the Employment Tribunal as a last resort, because their genuine attempts to have the actions of male colleagues investigated have not gone anywhere either.

There’s no doubt this takes a toll on them, as it has on Gemma. They should not be left in this position in any organisation, let alone one that is created to protect people.”

You can read more about this case in full via the BBC News article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3gl376m32o

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