The Daily Record is reporting that the officers were withdrawn from the firearms unit after being filmed with the singer while on duty
Officers Greg Tunnock (pictured) and Steven Jones posed for a picture with Tallia Storm (Image: Edinburgh Live)
By Democrat reporter
Police Scotland have been ordered to pay two firearms officers almost £50,000 after suspending them from duty for posing for a photograph with influencer Tallia Storm.
Now the tribunal has concluded that female officers “would not have been treated in the same manner”.
Pc Jones was awarded compensation of £24,800.59 and PC Tunnock £23,824.56, both for injury to feelings and loss of income.
Influencer Tallia Storm
Employment Judge Amanda Jones said: “The claimants were directly discriminated against because of their sex by the respondent by permanently withdrawing their firearms authorisation and by insisting on their transfer from the Operational Services Division.”
While patrolling the Scottish Parliament in March last year, the authorised firearms officers parked their car to take photographs with Storm.
In Cowgate, they saw a large crowd and recognised the star before leaving their vehicle – which held secured firearms – for what Pc Jones said was around a minute.
Pc Jones said he believed that he was treated unfairly because of “past instances of misogyny” involving other officers in the firearms unit.
He told the tribunal: “Because of the word ‘misogyny’, it made me feel it was because I was a male interacting with a female that it was viewed through that lens. If a member of the other sex had that interaction, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Steven Jones was also a TikTok video with singer Tallia Storm
At the tribunal hearing in June, Pc Tunnock told how his superior, Andrew Miller, became “irate” over the snap and said “the last thing the firearms unit needs is another misogyny case”.
The 34-year-old had recently been put forward for promotion to Acting Sergeant but told the court he was signed off work by his GP for anxiety and depression after the incident, saying: “I never felt so low in my life.”
The Tribunal heard both officers had previously been “highly regarded” by line managers, winning awards and commendations during their service, and had no disciplinary records.
It heard it had been the intention of the officers to provide the photograph to the police communications department as an example of them engaging positively with the public.
However, the video was first posted on Storm’s TikTok account, with around 500 comments, both positive and negative.
Storm later posted a further comment of support for the officers on her social media, saying: “They were lovely. It was so refreshing to see kindness & support in our little community. Be kind, we are all human on the job at the end of the day!!!”
Singer Tallia Storm
Both officers submitted a grievance which was not upheld.
They were both absent from work for several months and “suffered significant impact to their mental health”, undergoing counselling in relation to the matter.
The judgement said: “The Tribunal formed the view that (Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie) wished to make an example of the claimants as male officers to demonstrate that he was taking active steps to stamp out any conduct by male officers which could be viewed as sexist in the unit even though there was nothing whatsoever sexist or misogynistic about the behaviour of the claimants.
“Rather, (Ritchie) had jumped to conclusions because of the nature of the media coverage and comments he was referred to regarding that coverage. Having jumped to that conclusion, he then sought to establish an ex post facto justification of his decision by later suggesting that he had regard to the competencies officers required to have in the unit, which were not in his mind at all when he made the decision.
“The Tribunal was also of the view that there was no evidence to suggest that female officers in the same circumstances, that is having stopped on a double yellow line, engaged a celebrity (male or female) in conversation, and had their picture taken with them, would have been treated in the same manner.”
The tribunal found the officers were not harassed or victimised by the force for lodging a grievance.