An NHS nurse who complained about sharing a changing room with a transgender doctor has won part of her employment tribunal against NHS Fife.
Nurse Sandie Peggie, who works as an A&E nurse, was suspended after complaining about sharing a changing room with Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on Christmas Eve 2023.
Mrs Peggie was placed on special leave after Dr Upton made an allegation of bullying and harassment.
In response, Mrs Peggie 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.
Today, in a written judgment, the harassment claim was upheld but allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation were dismissed by the court.
Mrs Peggie said: “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.
NHS nurse Sandie Peggie has won part of her employment tribunal against NHS Fife
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PA
“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.
“I’m so grateful to my incredible legal team, Naomi Cunningham, lead counsel; Dr Charlotte Elves, junior counsel; and my solicitor, Margaret Gribbon.
“There are many others I would like to thank and will do so in the coming days.”
Ms Peggie described her case against NHS Fife as being ‘agonising for me and my family’
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PAThe tribunal found NHS Fife had harassed Mrs Peggie by failing to revoke the grant of permission to Dr Upton on an interim basis.
Dr Upton had been in the changing room when the claimant was present on two occasions after Mrs Peggie first made her complaint.
It also found the board had harassed Mrs Peggie by taking an unreasonable length of time to investigate the allegation, and by making reference to patient care allegations against her on March 28, 2024.
However, the judgment dismissed the claim made against Dr Upton, who was named as a respondent in the case.
During the tribunal, Ms Peggie testified that she informed Dr Upton “that he was a man and should not be in the female changing room”, explaining she was “trying to give [Dr Upton] an example of how I and other women feel”.
Meanwhile, Dr Upton claimed Ms Peggie declared it was “inappropriate for me to be in there” and was left feeling “really, really upset” after the confrontation.
Ms Peggie’s solicitor Margaret Gribbon added: “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.”