Peggie, an experienced nurse, took NHS Fife to an employment tribunal after refusing to share a changing room with a transgender colleague.
Sandie Peggie(Image: PA)
Sandie Peggie was unlawfully harassed by NHS Fife in a row over sharing a staff changing room with a trans colleague, an employment tribunal has ruled.
Peggie, a nurse with 30 years’ experience, took NHS Fife to a tribunal after refusing to share a Kirkcaldy hospital changing room with Dr Beth Upton.
The mum was suspended by hospital bosses after she complained about Dr Upton using the female changing room at the A&E department in Victoria Hospital following a row in December 2023.
She argued that having to get changed beside Dr Upton – a biological male who identifies as a woman – amounted to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act.
NHS guidance at the time stated said transgender men and women were allowed to use the changing rooms that aligned with their declared gender identity.
Peggie subsequently launched 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 harassment claim was today upheld but allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation were dismissed.
Upon had told the tribunal she had been left feeling “distressed” and “afraid” after being told by Peggie not to use the women’s changing rooms at work.
The case became one of the most high-profile in the UK when it heard from 20 witnesses in sessions that took place in February and July.
In a ruling issued today, the tribunal found Peggie had been harassed by her employers. But her allegations against Dr Upton were dismissed.
It said NHS Fife had “failed to revoke the grant of permission to Dr Upton on an interim basis after Mrs Peggie complained, for the period until different work rotas took effect so that they would not work together, as a result of which Dr Upton was in the changing room when the claimant was present on two occasions”.
The tribunal also criticised the board for raising patient care allegations during the dispute and wrongly restricting what Peggie could say about the case.
A separate hearing will decide if the nurse should receive financial compensation.
In a statement, Peggie said: “I am beyond relieved and delighted that the Tribunal has found that my employer 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.”
Margaret Gribbon, Peggie’s solicitor, said: “The tribunal’s finding 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. After hearing evidence for over a month from some 21 witnesses and considering just under 3,000 pages of productions, the Tribunal has today delivered a 318 page judgment.
“Due to the length of the judgment and the fact the legal team only received it this morning at 10am, we will not be in a position to make substantive comments on it today and will do so later this week.”
Dr Beth Upton (Image: PA)
Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid said: “What happened to Sandie Peggie was a disgrace. Her harassment has been enabled by a warped NHS culture and fostered by a Scottish Government that refused to listen to women’s concerns.
“It allowed the ideology of a small group of unrepresentative activists spread like wildfire through our institutions.
“Those in NHS Fife who played any part in this must be accountable and I struggle to see how they stay in post. They have wasted masses of NHS money on their trans rights crusade and enough is enough.”
Tess White, Scottish Conservatives equalities spokeswoman, said: “NHS Fife shamefully tried to silence a nurse who stood up for women’s rights, then squandered a fortune of taxpayers’ money defending their harassment of her.
“The health board have serious questions to answer – and so does John Swinney and Neil Gray who backed the discredited management team at every turn.
“This whole shameful saga stems from the SNP imposing their reckless gender self-ID policy across Scotland’s public bodies – a policy which the Supreme Court deemed unlawful.
“John Swinney should apologise for his abject failure to protect women and girls and finally issue an unequivocal instruction for all organisations in Scotland to follow the law.”
Speaking to BBC News, the First Minister said: “It is important to take time to consider the judgement, that is the role of NHS Fife to do so, and of course the Scottish government will consider any issues that arise out of the judgement for the taking forward of public policy in this area.”
Asked whether he thought Peggie was right to raise the case, Swinney said that “individuals with concerns about their employment practice are free within the law to raise any concerns that they have”.
A spokesperson for NHS Fife said: “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.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “While these are matters for the health board, the Scottish Government respects the outcome of the employment tribunal and will take the time to consider the judgement in full.”
