F Atack Members : Ms N Bakshi Mr H P Boyd Ms Alyson Marshall v Represented by:15 Mr A Mason - Advocate Advocate General for Scotland — 2017

Ms Marshall worked as a kennel assistant at HMNB Clyde Dog Section from 16 May 2009. The tribunal found that she had a sexual relationship with Mr X from the second half of 2010 until the end of December 2012, that the relationship became coercive, and that Mr X’s management of her became overly controlling. When the matter emerged in January 2013, Mr X was moved from the Dog Section to divisional HQ, an investigation was started under the Ministry of Defence Police (Conduct) Regulations 2009, and the claimant’s complaint and Mr X’s grievance were handled separately.

The tribunal rejected the claimant’s phase 2 allegations that the respondent directly discriminated against her or harassed her during the investigation and grievance process. It held that not suspending Mr X, not including a female officer, asking the claimant to attend the main police building and later enter by the rear/fire exit, the pace of the investigation, the update schedule, and the handling of the grievance were not acts of direct sex discrimination or harassment. The tribunal found the investigation was serious and thorough, involved 31 witnesses and forensic evidence, and that the delays identified were not shown to be because of the claimant’s sex.

The tribunal did, however, find that the respondent had not taken all reasonable steps for the purposes of section 109(4) of the Equality Act 2010. It considered that training and follow-up arrangements were not sufficiently robust, that line management of the Dog Section was too remote, and that some employees knew of Mr X’s behaviour but did not report it. Even so, the tribunal held that there was no continuing act linking the phase 1 conduct to the phase 2 allegations, that the last act complained of against Mr X was 6 January 2013, and that it was not just and equitable to extend time under section 123. The claims were therefore dismissed for want of jurisdiction.