A suspended Scots nurse wins the right to a public hearing in her case against a trans doctor, challenging the secrecy of the proceedings.
Kirkcaldy: So, there’s this NHS nurse who got suspended after raising concerns about a trans woman in a female changing room. She decided to fight back and took her case to an employment tribunal. It all started when she claimed the trans colleague undressed in front of her on Christmas Eve last year.
After being suspended, the nurse, who has been with the health board for 30 years, felt she was being bullied. She’s now taking legal action against both her employer, NHS Fife, and the colleague involved. She believes her experiences were harassment, especially in what she thought was a female-only space.
In a bit of a twist, both the health board and the trans woman wanted the case to be kept private. But the nurse and some gender-critical groups pushed back against this. They wanted the hearing to be open to the public, and it looks like they got their way.
Judge Antoine Tinnion ruled that the proceedings must be public, and he named the parties involved. The nurse is Sandie Peggie, and the trans woman is Dr. Beth Upton, both working in the A&E department at Victoria Hospital.
The judge acknowledged Dr. Upton’s concerns about her identity being disclosed but said that public interest in the case was too significant to keep it secret. He pointed out that many media outlets and groups wanted to cover the hearing, which is a big deal for public debate.
Sandie Peggie shared a changing room with Upton a few times, and their last encounter led to some heated words. Upton later complained about Peggie, resulting in her suspension. NHS Fife claims Peggie wasn’t harassed and that her actions were unnecessary.
Interestingly, Peggie argued that Upton looked like a man, but the judge disagreed, stating it wasn’t obvious. The full tribunal is set for ten days in February, so this story is far from over.
