Victim of SNP sex harm sued over traumatic grievance process

Speaking to BBC Panorama, the man said the lengthy process was “more traumatic” than the SNP MP’s abuse.

The former employee, named Oliver on the show, said he lost his job and livelihood and was harmed physically and mentally in the months following his initial complaint.

CONTINUE READING: SNP MP Patrick Grady apologizes for sexual harassment

He was just 19 when Mr Grady made unwanted sexual advances on him at a Christmas party in 2016.

“I was sitting on a couch in the pub talking to some colleagues and Patrick Grady walked over and sat on the arm of the sofa I was sitting on.

“I felt something on my head and looked up. It was Patrick Grady who touched my head and made a comment about my hair and how he wished it had hair.

“And he continued to put his hand on my neck. So much so that my tie was forcing my neck back and choking me a bit. And he also touched my lower back. I think at that point I was very uncomfortable with what was going on.”

Oliver said he didn’t want to complain because he was “afraid of the repercussions”.

Eventually, when Mr. Grady was appointed Chief Whip of the SNP, he also became its immediate boss.

Oliver soon tried to find a new job and arranged to meet another MP at a community pub.

There he said there had been a second incident involving SNP chief Patricia Gibson.

He told the show: “When I entered the stranger’s bar, Patricia Gibson was sitting alone on a bar stool at a high table with a tall glass of red wine, looking quite drunk.

“What followed was Patricia came up to me, grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear, ‘Come home and fuck me,’ were the words she used.

“So I tried to pull away from her, and she kept following me around the bar, grabbing my arm and repeating, ‘Come home and fuck me.'”

Ms Gibson denied the claim but admitted to being too drunk to remember the incident, according to the show.

CONTINUE READING: Sex wrecker SNP MP Patrick Grady ‘plans to run in general election’

After the second alleged incident, Oliver decided to lodge a complaint against both MPs

He called the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme set up in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Oliver then had to face a lengthy interview before the investigator spoke to the MPs, witnesses and others involved.

He told the show, “Having the investigator checking in every day was pretty stressful, and then there was this crazy, long investigation.” It was supposed to be a simple process.

“At some point in the course of the investigation, you get back what other people said, including the perpetrators, the complainants, the witnesses, and a lot of it was soul-wrecking, you know, it crushed me.

“One of my colleagues at the time said I was a fantasist with a drinking problem.

“It was a very painful time during which I lost all confidence. I got very sick, very, very sick.”

Ten months after the complaint, the ICGS came back and confirmed the allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Grady and Ms Gibson.

The complaints were then forwarded to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for consideration.

Here, too, the commissioner confirmed the allegations in both cases

They were then sent to an independent expert panel of eight lawyers and labor specialists to review the process and recommend a sentence.

Oliver said at the time Ms Gibson had engaged a solicitor who “managed to quash the entire investigation”.

The panel said the way the investigation was conducted was inconsistent and procedurally unfair and the wrong sexual misconduct test was used.

Ms Gibson told Panorama that the inquiry “did not adequately gather or weigh the evidence and failed to consider its accounts”.

She said she was grateful that the panel corrected the errors made in the original investigation and dismissed this complaint.

The panel upheld the original finding against Mr. Grady.

Fourteen months after the first complaint, the MP was suspended from Parliament for two days.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Oliver said. “The time I put into it, the effort and how much it took on my life resulted in him being suspended for two days.”

CONTINUE READING: Stephen Flynn treats sex wrecker Patrick Grady the same way as other SNP MPs

Oliver felt he could no longer work in the same building and resigned.

“He is still an MP and continues to receive his full MP salary and expenses. And then I lost my job, my livelihood, something I’ve been doing since I left high school, all gone because I decided to file a complaint.

“It took a lot of toll on me mentally and physically and affected my health. It wasn’t really the sexual harassment that I found most traumatic. It was the process I went through.”

“MPs should not attempt sexual relations with their staff,” he added.

“They should try to represent their constituents. You shouldn’t go to Westminster to get drunk and say inappropriate things to your employees. They should be there to give speeches and vote.

Although the party was aware of the complaint, Mr Grady was allowed to remain in office as the SNP’s Chief Whip until March 2021 – when The Herald first revealed the allegations against him.

He was even allowed to speak about employee harassment in a Commons debate in 2019.

It is believed that Mr Grady is trying to run again for the SNP in the next election.

SNP deputy chair Mhairi Black also appeared on the show – but not to discuss Oliver’s case.

She said there was “an entitlement that exists particularly in Westminster, where politicians are first-class citizens and everyone else is second-class”.

“The politicians are treated almost like gods,” she said.

“There is a real sense of powerlessness. I don’t know how to improve that because I can’t tell the person things are getting better because in my experience they aren’t.

“Usually it’s talented people who get driven out of Westminster and out of politics.”

The Herald has reached out to Mr Grady, Ms Gibson and the SNP for comment.