NHS nurse Sandie Peggie ‘taking legal action' against union over trans row
Sandie Peggie was suspended from her job last year after she complained about having to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton, a transgender medic.
Ms Peggie was later placed on special leave after a complaint of bullying and harassment by Dr Upton, but was cleared by an NHS Fife investigation last week.
The suspension led to an employment tribunal this year, at which Ms Peggie launched a claim against Dr Upton and NHS Fife, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination and victimisation.
On Saturday, The Herald reported that Ms Peggie had taken legal action against the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), claiming it failed to support her after her suspension, which the union denies.
'The RCN's failure to act like a trade union ought to has contributed to Sandie Peggie's mistreatment,' Margaret Gribbon, Ms Peggie's lawyer, said in a statement.
'They have repeatedly failed to exercise their industrial muscle to advocate for female members distressed because they are being deprived of genuine single-sex spaces to dress and undress at work.
'Had the RCN fulfilled the conventional role of a trade union, it is less likely that Sandie would have faced the ordeal of an 18-month disciplinary process and having to raise legal proceedings against Fife Health Board.'
The Herald reported that Ms Peggie would be taking action for unlawful discrimination. An RCN spokesman told it: 'We have responded to the claim, and we deny all the allegations from Ms Peggie.'
The row centres on an encounter between Ms Peggie and Dr Upton on Dec 24, 2023. The nurse experienced a sudden and heavy period and feared that it had bled through to her scrubs.
She entered the female hospital changing room to find Dr Upton, and challenged the medic's presence. Within hours, a bullying complaint was lodged by Dr Upton.
Ms Peggie was placed on special leave, and then suspended, after Dr Upton made the allegation of bullying and harassment and cited concerns about 'patient care'.
'Biological sex is immutable'
In May last year, Ms Peggie submitted a formal claim to the employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Upton for sexual harassment, belief discrimination and victimisation.
The nurse complained of being required to share a single-sex space with someone she believed to be male and being victimised for holding a gender-critical belief that biological sex is immutable.
It was not possible for the doctor to have held a gender recognition certificate in December 2023, meaning the medic was legally male. However, Dr Upton claimed during the first part of the tribunal, in February, to be 'biologically female'.
It emerged on Wednesday this week, hours before the tribunal resumed, that Ms Peggie had been cleared of gross misconduct by an NHS Fife disciplinary hearing. However, the health board has so far ignored calls to stop contesting the tribunal.
In a statement, the health board previously said: 'NHS Fife did not initiate the tribunal proceedings and is instead one of two 'respondents' being sued.
'NHS Fife cannot unilaterally stop proceedings – only the claimant can choose to withdraw the case. The claimant has said in a recent statement from her legal representatives that she is determined to continue with her legal claim, as she is entitled to do.'
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