Principal settles out of court

[D.G.]

The Principal and University have settled a sexual harrassment case out of court. Allegations made by Claire McGonigle include that the Principal stroked her back, commented on her underwear, and changed her job remit so that she would be in frequent contact with him. However, the university has cleared the Principal of any wrongdoing. Many of the papers covered the settlement today, including a leader in the Express:

"The Principal of St Andrews University, Dr Brian Lang, has avoided an extremely embarrassing airing of dirty linen. Elaine McGonigle, the woman who has accused him of sexual harrassment and bullying, has dropped her unfair dismissal case against him after lawyers working for both sides agreed to a settlement. And internal university investigation has already cleared Dr Lang of any wrong-doing, but an outcome such as that which was thrashed out yesterday can have left neither party particularly satisfied.

Mrs McGonigle's general accusations have been made public but, without hearing by the industrial tribunal, the question over whether they were true or false remain. We cannot help but think that Dr Lang should have gone the full course, had his "day in court" and been able to refute the accusations once and for all. The university had cleared him, so why not leave it up to the tribunal to finally quash the stories?"