Shadow minister resigns after tribunal hears she tried to "isolate" worker who made Mike Hill harassment claim
A shadow minister has resigned from her post after an employment tribunal heard she tried to "isolate" a parliamentary worker, known only as Ms A, who had claimed she had been sexually harassed by the former Hartlepool MP Mike Hill.Blackburn MP Kate Hollern was Shadow Local Government Minister. A Labour spokesperson confirmed her resignation.
Mr Hill is accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment and victimisation by a woman, who is referred to as Ms A to protect her identity.
He denies all of the allegations.
On Wednesday 12 May 2021, the tribunal heard from Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen.He said that Ms A told him that she was being harassed by Mr Hill, and he gave her some advice.
He said that several months later he was approached by Kate Hollern, who at the time was a parliamentary assistant to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
In his witness statement, Mr Bridgen said that Ms Hollern told him: "If I were you, I would keep away from her."
Mr Bridgen described this as Ms Hollern trying to "intimidate" him and "isolate" Ms A from support.He said he regarded the remarks as "malicious" and "designed to scare me away from offering Ms A any help or support."
Kate Hollern said in response: "I am absolutely clear that any complaint of sexual harassment should be treated extremely seriously and had this been raised with me I would have taken the necessary action.
"It was never my intention to undermine the support the complainant was receiving, which I was unaware of at the time."If that is what Mr Bridgen was led to believe, I apologise for my error in judgement in having the conversation."The employment tribunal, taking place via videolink, continues.