Costner named in sex claim

Hollywood star Kevin Costner was today revealed as the celebrity accused of performing a sex act while being given a massage at a famous golf hotel

The actor was accused of the incident at the spa at The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Fife, in October 2004.

A legal ruling had banned identifying Costner, who had been in St Andrews with his wife, where they attended the Dunhill Links pro-celebrity golf event.

The 34-year-old spa worker at the centre of the allegations initially claimed unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination against the hotel after she lost her job.

She claimed that she was unfairly dismissed after she made the complaint to management about the 51-year-old star, whose best-known films include Dances With Wolves and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

However just before a tribunal hearing this morning, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, settled with hotel lawyers.

And this afternoon tribunal chairman Nicol Hosie ruled that both the hotel and Costner could be identified, as there was not a strong enough case for their names to be withheld.

The woman made no comment as she left the tribunal, which was in Dundee.

The woman reportedly told a hearing in Dundee last month that during a massage Costner took off his towel, exposed himself and performed a sex act.

She said her complaints to management were not taken seriously enough and the hotel had failed to provide her with adequate counselling.

The worker said she was finally taken into the office and sacked last August.

She then decided to take her former employers to an employment tribunal.

Today, before a hearing was due to take place to discuss whether Costner and the hotel could be named, the woman agreed settlement terms with lawyers from the hotel. The amount was not disclosed.

Later a lawyer for the hotel said it would not be in the hotel's best interests if he was named.

Costner, who was not represented at the hearing, is understood to be a good friend of the hotel's owners.

A lawyer acting for the Daily Mail newspaper argued that 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.

Advocate Laurence Kennedy said the paper wanted to print the "allegations as allegations" and not as a matter of fact.

He also said the fact Costner would possibly be caused embarrassment was not enough for his name to be withheld.

He said: "It is not the role of the tribunal to police the question of reputation.

"The newspaper wishes to be free to report the allegations as allegations, not as a matter of fact."

After deliberating for an hour, Mr Hosie said it was unlikely Costner was unaware of the allegations against him, given the coverage the story has had in the American press and on the internet.

He was not prepared to delay his decision until Costner had representation.

Mr Hosie 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."

He also said he was not convinced there was a pressing social need convincing enough to allow restrictions to be put in place which would prevent Costner being identified.