Kirsten Fordham said she was victimised by COPFS in October 2019 and is now pursuing a case in the Employment Tribunal, The Herald reports.

She faced disciplinary action for improperly accessing case records of people she knew within weeks of moving to a new desk after the allegations were made.

She was dismissed in October 2020.

Of her claim for sexual harassment, victimisation and age discrimination, only the victimisation part has been allowed as the others are out of time.

The judgment states: “The judgment of the tribunal is that it is just and equitable to allow the claim of victimisation under s27 of the Equality Act to proceed. A final hearing will be listed to consider this claim.

“All other claims are out of time and the tribunal has no jurisdiction to consider them.”

A Crown Office spokesperson said: “COPFS values its employees very highly and their welfare is of great importance to the organisation.

“Harassment of any kind is not tolerated and there are robust policies in place to deal with allegations of inappropriate behaviour. 

“COPFS will continue to defend this action and it would, accordingly, not be appropriate to comment further on the substance of this case.”