A trainee prison custody officer has claimed he was sacked for “refusing to use incorrect pronouns” when referring to transgender prisoners.
David Toshack has taken security firm GEOAmey to an employment tribunal.
Mr Toshack, 51, says he was dismissed with immediate effect on his final week of training.
The former soldier has previously denied he was “hostile” to colleagues in the disagreement over pronouns at the training event.
On Monday, the tribunal heard from Christopher Hutton, an instructor at GEOAmey.
He was asked about a training session for staff on January 7 last year.
The tribunal heard how Mr Toshack was asked to leave the room after saying he would only use sex-based pronouns.
Describing a meeting with Mr Toshack following the session, Mr Hutton told the tribunal: “He [Mr Toshack] looked angry to be honest, he looked agitated,” adding: “His face was a bit red.”
David Toshack claims he was sacked for ‘refusing to use incorrect pronouns’
|
FREE SPEECH UNION/PA
Under questioning from GEOAmey’s advocate Michael McLaughlin, Mr Hutton also spoke about the company’s policy on using pronouns in the paperwork which accompanied prisoners.
He spoke about one incident where officers were moving a transgender prisoner who was known to self-harm.
He said: “The prison officer had written down ‘he’. The (person in) custody has seen it…and assaulted the officer.”
Discussing the importance of GEOAmey’s policy, Mr Hutton continued: “I understand that Mr Toshack has his personal beliefs, but he has to follow the company policy.”
The row has broken out over transgender prisoners (file pic)
|
GETTYThe GEOAmey instructor said Mr Toshack had failed his probation as the former solder had said he would not comply with the company policy.
Mr Hutton said: “It’s nothing to do with his beliefs. It’s the fact that he was going to put himself and other custody staff at risk.”
Mr Hutton also faced questions from David Hay KC, the advocate for Mr Toshask.
The KC noted that only around an hour passed between the disagreement in the training session and the decision to dismiss Mr Toshack, describing it as an “extremely speedy state of affairs.” Mr Hutton said this was not the case, given the evidence had had seen.
The GEOAmey instructor said Mr Toshack had failed his probation
|
GETTY
The GEOAmey instructor also disputed that Mr Toshack had been asked to “lie” about the pronouns of transgender prisoners. Mr Hay said: “You may not consider it to be a lie, but Mr Toshack considers it to be a lie.”
The witness responded: “That’s his opinion.”
Earlier, the tribunal heard evidence from another GEOAmey employee identified as Ms Ross, who was part of the same training course as Mr Toshack.
She said Mr Toshack got “quite heated” during the training session.
She was asked about transgender prisoner Tiffany Scott, who was previously known as Andrew Burns and died in March 2024.
Ms Ross described Scott as an “infamous character” who would self-harm and required 24-hour supervision while in hospital.
The tribunal, which is taking place in Edinburgh before employment judge Amanda Jones, continues.