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Scotland’s first minister has expressed horror at the image of a Scottish government employee gagged and taped to a chair in an alleged bullying incident by her colleagues.

Nicola Sturgeon has ordered a review into the case of DeeAnn Fitzpatrick, who has complained of bullying and misogyny while working at the offices of Marine Scotland.

The BBC reported that Fitzpatrick is Canadian national, and that the incident happened in 2010 as a result of her speaking out about a threatening and misogynistic culture in the workplace.

'Whistleblower' taped to chair and gagged https://t.co/tr0l6tg1wg — Mark Daly (@BBCMarkDaly) May 23, 2018

Her case is before an employment tribunal, but the image of the incident obtained by the BBC has caused shock.

The Scottish leader says she was “absolutely horrified at the photograph that has been in the media over the past 24 hours.”

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READ MORE: What Canada is doing to help protect women in the workplace

Sturgeon says “bullying, abuse, sexism, racism have no place in any workplace and let me be very clear today: they will not be tolerated within the Scottish Government or within our agencies.”