Humza Yousaf's wife drops discrimination legal action against Broughty Ferry nursery
The nursery owner said she welcomes the move
The Scottish Health Secretary's wife has dropped her legal case against a Broughty Ferry nursery.
Little Scholars Day Nursery was being sued by Nadia El-Nakla for £30,000 in damages for alleged discrimination against their daughter.
But the action has been dropped after the nursery acknowledged Care Inspectorate findings that administrative changes were needed to be more transparent in how they manage admission requests.
Joint Statement
Following discussions, a joint statement was agreed between M El-Nakla and Sword Nursery Ltd, the proprietors of Little Scholars Day Nursery.
It said:
“Following discussions, parties have agreed to bring an end to these proceedings. No legal expenses will be paid by either party to the other.
"Sword Nursery Ltd acknowledges the previous findings of the Care Inspectorate identifying administrative changes necessary to manage admission requests in a more transparent and equitable manner.
"Those changes have been implemented in full. As a result of court proceedings being halted parties can confirm there has been and will be no judicial finding against either party."
Nursery's response
Usha Fowdar, who owns the Little Scholars Day Nursery in Broughty Ferry, welcomed the decision to end legal proceedings and insisted there "never was any discrimination".
But she hit out at Humza Yousaf and his wife - who is an SNP councillor in Dundee - saying they had "colluded in a half-baked sting operation" against the nursery and had then "mounted a vicious and cynical campaign against us in the national media".
Ms Fowdar said: "What sort of people do that?"
But Solicitor Aamer Anwar, acting on behalf of Nadia and Humza stated:
“It was a tough decision, but as a mother and father they believe it’s the right one. Nadia and Humza, first and foremost are loving parents who like any others would do anything to protect their children.
They only ever wanted the nursery to accept the findings of the ‘Independent Care Inspectorate’ investigation and for the nursery to make changes.
Background
Mr Yousaf spoke out against the nursery in August 2021, after the family were refused a place there for their young daughter.
He alleged that while they were told there were "no available spaces" for their daughter Amal, then aged two, a white friend was told days later that there were places available for her two-year-old son.
In November 2021 the Care Inspectorate ordered the business to introduce measures so applications "are processed in a transparent and equitable manner" and to prove it is "being well-led and managed".
A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate said at the time that "the service did not promote fairness, equality and respect when offering placements".