A former civil servant told an investigator that she was bound and gagged by male colleagues to “silence” her when she supported a female co-worker after an alleged assault by a male colleague, a tribunal has been told.
A photograph showing DeeAnn Fitzpatrick, a fisheries officer at Marine Scotland, tied to a chair with tape over her mouth went viral in 2018, prompting a national outcry on the treatment of women in the workplace.
She had worked for the Scottish government directorate, which manages the country’s seas and freshwater fisheries, for 11 years before losing her job.
Fitzpatrick, 50, is seeking a case for unfair dismissal against the Scottish government, claiming that she blew the whistle on abuse in the office.
Yesterday Glasgow employment tribunal heard that she told an investigator from Disclosure Scotland, the government agency, that the incident took place in December 2010, three months after she “backed up” a female colleague when a male colleague allegedly tried to punch her. She told Gerard Hart, the investigating officer, that Reid Anderson and Jody Paske, the two male colleagues accused of binding her, uttered remarks such as “this is what you get when you speak out about the boys”.
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Fitzpatrick added that she felt “very frightened”, “upset” and “humiliated. Hart told the tribunal that Anderson claimed that the incident was “all done in good humour”.
Anderson also provided the investigator with evidence that Fitzpatrick had looked after his pets while he was away, just weeks after the incident, and that she had sent messages wishing him and his partner the best of luck for the coming year. She later told Hart that this was due to her “forgiving” nature.
An investigation by the government body found that the accused colleagues had no case to answer and dismissed the incident as part of a high-jinks culture in which she was a willing participant. Fitzpatrick was subsequently dismissed for gross misconduct.
She lost an employment tribunal in June 2018 but the chair incident was not considered as too much time had passed. The tribunal instead focused on claims that she got abusive cards on her birthday and Valentine’s Day between 2015 and 2017. The tribunal ruled it could not agree if the cards had come from her Marine Scotland colleagues.
The hearing continues.
