Lawyer who quit abuse inquiry to sue government

SCOTLAND
The Times

Daniel Sanderson
January 31 2017
The Times

The former head of Scotland’s national child abuse inquiry is suing SNP ministers for £500,000 amid claims they forced her out of the role.

Susan O’Brien, a respected QC, stood down last summer as head of the Scottish government’s inquiry, claiming she was being undermined and blaming political interference.

Court documents reveal that Ms O’Brien is claiming damages for breach of contract, arguing that moves to sack her after she made allegedly inappropriate comments at a training session had made her position untenable.

The case centres around a complaint made about Ms O’Brien by a clinical psychologist, Claire Fyvie, who is director of the Edinburgh-based Rivers Centre, an NHS facility set up to help people affected by psychological trauma. The centre had been providing support services to the inquiry temporarily.

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