Campaigners who backed a legal action that stopped a whistleblowing nurse’s case being held in secret say only “lip service” is being paid to keeping women-only spaces.
Employment Judge Antoine Tinnion this week rejected NHS Fife’s bid to protect anonymity and restrict reporting at an Edinburgh tribunal hearing next month.
The nurse, who can now be identified as Sandie Peggie, was suspended and accused of bullying by her colleague Doctor Beth Upton, who is biologically male but identifies as a woman.
In the first case of its kind in Scotland, Sandie will claim bosses are flouting the Equality Act which protects female-only spaces.
NHS Fife applied for a Rule 50 Order ahead of the hearing but Judge Tinnion ruled the issues were a matter of “legitimate public debate” and “substantial political, moral and legal argument”.
The Sunday Mail formally opposed the NHS application along with campaign groups For Women Scotland, Sex Matters, Tribunal Tweets and other papers. Last night, the ruling was welcomed.
For Women Scotland’s Susan Smith said: “We are very pleased the principle of open justice prevailed in this case. This case, and others like it, expose the hollow sham in the rhetoric of Government and public bodies.
“They pay lip-service to the idea of women only spaces but, in practice, set the demands of a group of men over the safety, dignity, and privacy of their female staff.”
Sandie took the case to tribunal after being disciplined following a row with Dr Upton, who started to undress when they were alone in a room at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, on Christmas Eve 2023.
After the ruling Sandie said: “My case is about whether the hospital and Dr Upton subjected me to sexual harassment and discrimination by forcing me and other female colleagues to share a changing room with a man identifying as a woman.
“Changing rooms are a place where we expect privacy. Courtrooms are not.”
In October the Sunday Mail revealed how Sandie had said health bosses suggested she get changed in a cupboard if she was uncomfortable.
Margaret Gribbon, of McGrade Employment Solicitors, Glasgow, representing Sandie, said: “My client will argue this policy is unlawful and she has been victimised, threatened with her job and livelihood for objecting to it.
“This is the shocking reality for many women who merely object to employers’ policies which deny them privacy and respect in the workplace.”
Sex Matters said: “We are delighted the tribunal rejected the trust’s argument, which placed a man’s demand for privacy in court ahead of women’s privacy in changing rooms.” NHS Fife said it would not comment on an ongoing case.
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