Nurse Sandie Peggie who complained about sharing changing room with transgender doctor wins part of employment tribunal

A nurse who complained about sharing a changing room with a transgender doctor has won part of her employment tribunal against NHS Fife, although several claims were dismissed.

Sandie Peggie took action against the health board and transgender medic Dr Beth Upton after she was suspended from her job at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy following a row with her colleague on Christmas Eve 2023.

Ms Peggie, who has worked for the NHS for 30 years, was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment, and cited concerns about patient care.

The nurse lodged a claim against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination, and victimisation.

The employment tribunal hearings took place in Dundee before Judge Sandy Kemp earlier this year.

In a written judgment on Monday, the harassment claim was upheld against NHS Fife, but allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation were dismissed.

The claims against Dr Upton did not succeed and were dismissed.

Ms Peggie stated: "I am beyond relieved and delighted that the tribunal has found that my employer Fife Health Board harassed me after I complained about having to share a female-only changing room with a male colleague.

"The last two years have been agonising for me and my family.

"I will have much more to say in the coming days once I've been able to properly consider the lengthy judgment and discuss it with my legal team.

"For now, I am looking forward to spending a quiet few days with my family."

Ms Peggie paid tribute to her "incredible" legal team, which included lead counsel Naomi Cunningham, junior counsel Dr Charlotte Elves, and solicitor Margaret Gribbon.

She added: "There are many others I would like to thank and will do so in the coming days."

Ms Gribbon also said: "The tribunal's findings that Fife Health Board harassed Sandie Peggie is a huge win for a tenacious and courageous woman standing up for her sex-based rights.

"This has been an extraordinarily lengthy and complex legal case."

The solicitor said that "we will not be in a position to make substantive comments" on the judgement on the day, but added that "our preliminary thoughts are that aspects of the judgment are hugely problematic for women, leaving the onus on them to object when their privacy, dignity and safety are violated when men are given access to single-sex spaces".

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The tribunal found that NHS Fife had harassed Ms Peggie by failing to revoke the grant of permission to Dr Upton on an interim basis after the nurse complained, for the period until different work rotas took effect so that they would not work together and said that, as a result, Dr Upton was in the changing room when the claimant was present on two occasions.

It also found the board had harassed Ms Peggie by taking an unreasonable length of time to investigate the allegations against her; by making reference to patient care allegations against her on 28 March 2024; and giving an instruction to her not to discuss the case, until a further message a little over two weeks later which confirmed that applied only to the investigation.

A separate hearing on remedy - which could see Ms Peggie receive financial compensation - will take place at a later date.

NHS Fife said it had been a "complex and lengthy process".

The health board added: "The employment tribunal unanimously dismissed all of the claimant's allegations against Dr Upton and all of the allegations against the board apart from four specific aspects of the harassment complaint.

"We will now take time to work through the detail of the judgment alongside our legal team to understand fully what it means for the organisation.

"We want to recognise how difficult this tribunal has been for everyone directly and indirectly involved.

"Our focus now is to ensure that NHS Fife remains a supportive and inclusive environment for all employees and our patients and to deliver health and care to the population of Fife."

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