Kevin Costner

Costner named in sex claim case http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/4943784.stm

The allegations were made after Costner attended a golf event Hollywood star Kevin Costner has been named as the celebrity accused of performing a sex act while being given a massage at a famous golf hotel. The allegation, which it is understood Mr Costner denies, was made by a woman claiming unfair dismissal from The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Fife. An employment tribunal ruled on Tuesday that Mr Costner and the hotel could be named, despite an earlier ban. The worker at the centre of the claim has settled the case with the hotel. Mr Costner had been in St Andrews with his wife attending the Dunhill Links pro-celebrity golf event when the incident was said to have taken place in October 2004. Undisclosed settlement The spa worker, who cannot be named for legal reasons, initially claimed unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination against the hotel after she lost her job. She claimed to have been unfairly dismissed after she made the complaint to management about the 51-year-old star, whose best-known films include Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Bodyguard. The woman, who made no comment on the case, settled with hotel lawyers just before a tribunal hearing in Dundee for an undisclosed sum. Mr Costner has not faced any proceedings in connection with the case and the allegations have never been legally tested. At a separate hearing on Tuesday, tribunal chairman Nicol Hosie ruled that both the hotel and Mr Costner could be identified and that there was not a strong enough case for their names to be withheld. 'Significant' name Advocate Laurence Kennedy, acting for the Daily Mail newspaper, argued Mr Costner's name was already in the public domain in relation to the allegations as it had been published in papers including the Sunday Times Australia, The National Enquirer and the Himalaya Times in Nepal. He said: "The newspaper wishes to be free to report the allegations as allegations, not as a matter of fact." Mr Hosie said it was unlikely Mr Costner was unaware of the allegations against him and said he was not prepared to delay his decision until Mr Costner had representation. He said: "It is very significant that his name is widely reported in the world's press. It is already a matter which is in the public domain." A national newspaper has reported that Mr Costner has denied the claims.