Network Rail worker gets six-figure payout after saying she was sexually assaulted and harassed by executive at work Christmas event

Published: 07:53, 25 July 2026 | Updated: 07:54, 25 July 2026 A woman who sued Network Rail after she claimed she was sexually assaulted and harassed by a high-earning director during a Christmas event won a six-figure payout after a three-year battle. Lorraine Staves, 36, reached the settlement in May 2025 after suing both her former employer and director over claims she was sexually assaulted and harassed by David McBride while on a work trip in Lincoln in July 2022. Mr McBride had denied the claims. The company acknowledged harassment, however her claim for sexual assault has not been tested in court.   The former executive assistant alleges the incident was followed by a separate incident on another overnight Christmas work event in December 2022, where the director made 'unwanted sexual advances' towards her. Ms Staves described Mr McBride making unwanted sexual advances in July, including trying to kiss her and pursuing her by calling and texting. He also asked her to come to his room. The mother-of-one said he was inappropriate again during a Christmas event in Lincoln five months later. She said Mr McBride forced her to drink, made repeated sexual comments and kissed her forcefully in front of colleagues. It is understood Mr McBride then let himself into her hotel room. Ms Staves claims she endured years of discriminatory treatment by Network Rail after reporting the harassment to her bosses, causing psychiatric harm. Lorraine Staves won a six-figure payout after she sued Network Rail over claims she was sexually assaulted and harassed by a high-earning director during a Christmas event in 2022 David McBride denied sexually harassing Ms Staves on two separate incidents in 2022 Ms Staves believes the case was only investigated after someone who witnessed Mr McBride's inappropriate behaviour in July came forward a year later. He has not been convicted of any crime. 'I'd been reliving continuously with different people, different bosses who came along during the two-and-a-half years since it happened. It was continuous,' Ms Staves told the Daily Mail. 'Who am I going to talk to today? Who's going to try and invalidate me or who am I going to educate today?' Ms Staves settled the six-figure sum, credited also to psychiatric injury and discrimination. Network Rail also covered the claimant's legal fees.  Network Rail acknowledged Mr McBride's wrongdoing in July 2022, and apologised to Ms Staves. Notably, they referenced harassment and not sexual assault. In an email to Ms Staves – shared with the Mail – dated May 12, 2024, the company wrote: 'It was accepted by the recent disciplinary manager that DM [David McBride] had tried to kiss you during the early hours of July 1, 2022, and that the evidence showed that he had asked you to come to his room that evening.' The employee, who will not be named, added: 'I therefore wanted to take this opportunity to reach out to you to apologise, on behalf of Network Rail, for the harassment the hearing manager acknowledged that you experienced.' Mr McBride, who was Network Rail's head of commercial management at the time, denied the claims. He was sacked for gross misconduct in January 2024 after nearly 11 years at the company. Ms Staves claims she endured years of discriminatory treatment by Network Rail after she reported the alleged incidents  Mr McBride sent an affectionate WhatsApp message to Ms Staves the day after the alleged incident in December, which said: 'I think you are amazing and could kiss you for days. You look amazing in red. X.'  Ms Staves described feeling 'suicidal' after the incidents, and decided to confront Mr McBride – during which he apologised but denied any wrongdoing. She said she has been left with 'psychological damage', after feeling she was unable to keep herself safe by stopping his advances.   Ms Staves, who worked at Network Rail between 2019 and 2025, reported the incident in December to her manager and police in January 2023. Mr McBride was subsequently suspended on full-pay for seven months. The company's internal investigation was closed in May 2023, with allegations not being upheld. The decision cited insufficient evidence and Mr McBride's claims any encounters were consensual.  This came after Ms Staves said she was subjected to 'victimisation' by the company, with claims a private investigator asked her a number of inappropriate questions.  These included: how much alcohol she drank on the night in December, what clothes she wore and whether her breasts were visible. Ms Staves, from south Yorkshire, described feeling silenced as 'every single person' she turned to in the company 'failed' her. Meanwhile, the topic became 'work gossip'. She added: 'I told my boss in confidence but by the end, dozens of people knew. This included absolutely everybody in my team. They also formed their own opinion of what had happened.' 'People excluded me and didn't talk to me, treating me differently. Not only did they think I was behaving that way with colleagues but they also felt I lied about it,' she added. Mr McBride returned to work on May 9, 2023, while Ms Staves signed off sick with stress.  She claims Network Rail then tried to demote or redeploy her to another office, while trying to insinuate she herself was guilty of gross misconduct. Ms Staves said: 'I would have come in contact with him in the job I was doing if I'd not removed myself and gone off sick. They then put me back in a substantive role because I believe they were trying to fire me. 'I just kept thinking, Why are they doing this to me? Why are they believing him over me? Why are they protecting him over me?' The course of events changed after a witness of Mr McBride's sexual advances in July 2022 came forward on October 10, 2023. The witness described Ms Staves backing away after Mr McBride leant in for a kiss. 'They then took action for the first time he tried with me. I think this is probably the most important point,' she said. 'He couldn't justify the incident December anymore with what happened in July. They thought I was lying until an eyewitness came forward.' Ms Staves was then notified in March 2024 of the termination of Mr McBride's employment, which had taken place in January 2024. Having brought legal action against both the company and Mr McBride, Ms Staves and Network Rail settled on May 23, 2025, and she left the company.  She said she was 'stuck reliving it all' during the several-years-long ordeal, adding: 'It is upsetting to talk about how badly they let me down and how much I was lied to. 'I actually can't believe that it happened to me. I guess that's what trauma is, isn't it?' Ms Staves believes the alleged 'culture' of the company fuelled her treatment and prevented the incident from being deemed as sexual assault. She said: 'I realised the culture of that company. They believe it is okay because they do all of this. They are doing this and that's why there's nothing wrong with it because this is their normal to have affairs at work. 'What happened should not have happened because he should not have been asking for it in the first place.'  The police investigation by Lincolnshire Police was closed with no further action in 2024. Ms Staves then submitted a Victims Right to Review.  A Network Rail spokesperson said: 'The wholly unacceptable behaviour that Ms Staves experienced during her time at Network Rail should never have happened. We have apologised to Ms Staves and take this opportunity to again apologise to her unreservedly. 'Since then, we have put a number of additional measures in place to improve our reporting and investigation processes for sexual harassment, and ensure all our people are clear that such behaviour will not be tolerated in our organisation. 'We take any incident of sexual harassment extremely seriously and are committed to ensuring all our people feel safe at work.' A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: 'Incident 16 of 12 January 2023 is a report of a sexual assault, which was alleged to have happened on 14 December 2022 at the Hilton Hotel on Brayford Wharf in Lincoln.  'A man was arrested in connection with the incident. The case was finalised on 12 November 2024 with no further action. The victim has been updated with the outcome.' The Daily Mail has contacted Mr McBride for comment.