'Fanciful' | Claims that police staff were 'members of the KKK' rejected by tribunal

An employment tribunal in Scotland has rejected claims by a Scottish Police Authority employee that colleagues may have been linked to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), after concluding the allegation had “not any evidence to support” it and had not been pleaded as part of her case.

Mrs Neelam Puri, who worked as a Public Enquiry Support Assistant (PESA), brought claims relying on disability, race and sex under the Equality Act 2010. While the tribunal upheld a single reasonable adjustment complaint relating to the height of a counter at Stonehaven Police Station, it dismissed the remaining claims, including allegations connected to the KKK.

A subsequent application by Puri for reconsideration of the tribunal’s December 2025 judgment was refused, with the employment judge concluding there was “no reasonable prospect” of the original decision being varied or revoked.

Background to the case

Puri, who is Indian by race, started employment with the Scottish Police Authority in October 2022 and later resigned in July 2025.