A formal industrial dispute has been avoided at BBC Scotland after the head of news and current affairs stepped down following a row over the handling of grievance and bullying allegations.

John Boothman is leaving his position to work on the corporation's Charter renewal bid.
The move comes three days after union leaders met with BBC management over their concerns over treatment of staff in the Scottish newsroom with the National Union of Journalists raising the prospect of a ballot of union members for industrial action such as a work to rule if the BBC was unable to reassure staff that significant action was being taken, including moving Mr Boothman from his current post.
The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) say there is now no need to consider industrial action over the row.
Unions' concerns came to ahead after the daughter of one of Scotland's most famous politicians, the late Margo MacDonald, was understood to have successfully made a complaint against Mr Boothman.
The row dates back to February when Mr Boothman and a human resources executive was taped making a series of offensive comments about camerawoman Zoe MacDonald.
Mr Boothman and the executive had believed they were having a private conversation in a broadcasting gallery but did not realise that microphones were on and they could be heard.
BBC sources said the grievance surrounded the comments that were overheard and was not put down formally as a bullying or harassment complaint.
Union officials say the incidents highlighted their concerns about treatment of newsroom staff going back over two years.
Confirmation of Mr Boothman's departure was made in an email to staff on Tuesday.
Mr Boothman, who has headed news operations since June 2011, will be replaced by interim head Peter MacRae.
Mr Boothman is to join a team working on Scotland's proposals for the corporation's royal charter review next year, which will set out the future of the £145.50-a-year licence fee. He has not official title but will work with Bruce Malcolm, head of service development at BBC Scotland.
In an email to staff, BBC Scotland Director Ken MacQuarrie said Mr Boothman will play a "key role focusing on service development for Scotland including our news offer for audiences for the new Charter period".
An internal BBC Scotland staff survey is said to show that only 19% of news and current affairs staff believed bullying complaints against their managers would have a "positive outcome", 20% felt bullying would be fairly dealt with and 16% had confidence in Mr Boothman's decision-making.
Ms MacDonald is said to have been off work with long term stress.
Her grievance was upheld in early May and Mr Boothman made a "fulsome" apology to Ms MacDonald for the incident.
The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU), the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Unite have raised concerns about conditions dating back to late 2012 when BBC Scotland went through a selection process for redundancies.
Since then BECTU sources say there was concerns initially about pressure at work that developed into issues of bullying in some cases and aggressive management in others.
Paul McManus, Scottish organiser of BECTU refused to talk about any individual cases, said he was "very confident" the BBC had taken their concerns seriously and there would be no dispute.
"The joint unions within the BBC, BECTU, Unite and the NUJ have been raising concerns about the pressure on staff and in some cases the treatment of staff in news for around two years now and this has been an ongoing source of discussion between the joint unions and BBC Scotland management for some time, " he said.
"It is a high pressure environment, we understand that and it is difficult for some managers to get the balance right, being successful under high pressure without going over the top by putting too much pressure onto the staff or taking issues out on the staff."
A BBC spokesman said: "We don't accept there is a culture of bullying. Our staff in all departments are our key asset and we will continue to work with them to ensure they feel motivated and valued."
An SNP spokeswoman said: "This is a matter for the BBC and we won't be commenting."