Police Scotland has paid nearly £1 million in compensation to a former firearms officer who was victimised by a 'boys' club' culture in the force's elite armed response unit. Rhona Malone, who quit the Edinburgh unit, was awarded £948,000 in damages and costs after winning an employment tribunal last year.
The tribunal found that the unit was dominated by an 'absolute boys club culture' that was 'horrific'. It ruled that Malone had been victimised under the Equalities Act 2010 after she complained about a memo from Inspector Keith Warhurst, which recommended that two female firearms officers should not be deployed together if a male officer was available, citing 'the obvious differences in physical capacity'.
The tribunal heard evidence of routine sexism, including Warhurst distributing images of topless women on WhatsApp, describing a pregnant colleague's wife as 'a fucking fat bitch', and a senior instructor telling a female officer that women should not be firearms officers 'because they menstruated and this would affect their temperament'.
Malone submitted a formal complaint after a heated meeting where Warhurst threatened to suspend her. Despite an apology from Warhurst, a senior officer continued an internal grievance that the tribunal found was 'selective, inaccurate' and wrongly implied both officers were equally to blame. Malone eventually left the police on ill-health grounds.
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone apologised, saying the force's response was 'poor' and that he was committed to 'driving equality and inclusion'. Malone's lawyer, Margaret Gribbon, said her client had lost a promising career and that other female officers had been 'driven out' of the firearms division due to the rampant sexism.
