West Lothian hospital worker off with stress as sex pest keeps his job

Elaine Baptie said Eric Dang grabbed her during the ordeal at St John’s in Livingston.

Pervert Dang, 42, was slapped with a supervision order and put on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years last week after sexually assaulting Elaine in October 2017.

“I’d just finished work and he tried to grab me and get me to go in the toilet with him,” said mother-of-one Elaine, 57, from Livingston.

“He wouldn’t let me go and it lasted for a few minutes. Another male colleague came and was a witness for me.”

When challenged on his lewd behaviour, she claimed Dang scoffed: “I can do what I want.”Dang was sentenced to a 12-month community payback order, including 150 hours of unpaid work, at Livingston Sheriff Court last Friday for the offence.

He denied the allegations and pled not guilty but was convicted by a sheriff following a summary trial without a jury.

Despite being reported to management, Dang was allowed to keep his job but was moved around the hospital in the lead up to his sentencing.

He was first moved to the laundry but was later moved on to work in the transport area.

Elaine said: “He wasn’t suspended but given a final warning. I’m so angry about it. I complained and was told to give him some space – I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

Her ordeal has left Elaine off work with stress for six weeks – her longest absence in 43 years, including a decade at St John’s – and she was furious when she was quizzed about taking time off while still suffering from her ordeal at the hands of Dang.

“I had a meeting with management last week and they asked me why I was off,” she stormed. “For a big establishment, the NHS is beyond a joke. I’ve never come across anything like it in my life.”

She slammed hospital management for keeping Dang on for so long after her complaint but praised her union Unison for supporting her throughout the case.

Tam Waterson of Unison said: “The safety of staff is paramount to the union and we’re glad this member of staff felt supported by the union.

“We would hope that now this individual has been found guilty that the internal process will come to a satisfactory end.

“We will be looking into this case to ensure the member of staff has received the full support from her employer so we can encourage staff to feel they can come forward and expose this type of behaviour.”

A spokesman from NHS Lothian said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases.”