Hospital bosses violated the dignity of a group of female nurses who complained about a transgender woman using their changing room, an employment tribunal has found.<\/p>\n
Eight nurses from Darlington Memorial Hospital claimed they had been \u00ab\u00a0penalised\u00a0\u00bb by managers for objecting to Rose Henderson, a biological male who identifies as a woman, using the single-sex space.<\/p>\n
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust claimed the nurses had \u00ab\u00a0demonised\u00a0\u00bb their colleague and the policy was in accordance with guidelines at the time.<\/p>\n
In a partial victory for the nurses, the employment panel said the trust had created a \u00ab\u00a0hostile environment\u00a0\u00bb, but other elements of their claim were unfounded.<\/p>\n
The nurses, who were supported in their claim by Christian Concern, said the ruling was a \u00ab\u00a0massive vindication\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0victory for common sense\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
The tribunal, held in Newcastle in October and November, had heard Rose, an operating department practitioner who would be referred to by first name in the proceedings, had used the changing room since 2019.<\/p>\n
Complaints were first made by female nurses from the day surgery unit (DSU) in August 2023.<\/p>\n
The trust’s Transitioning in the Workplace policy allowed a person to use the single-sex space that conformed with their gender identity, and anyone of that sex who objected could change elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Some 26 nurses signed a letter complaining of Rose’s use of and conduct within the changing room, with Rose telling the tribunal the allegations, which included staring at women getting undressed, were \u00ab\u00a0false\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
In their 134-page judgement, the panel of three headed by employment judge Seamus Sweeney said the trust had harassed and discriminated against the nurses by requiring them to share a changing room with a \u00ab\u00a0biological male trans woman\u00a0\u00bb and then not taking their concerns seriously.<\/p>\n
But the panel found the nurse’s allegations about Rose Henderson’s conduct in the changing room to be \u00ab\u00a0not well founded\u00a0\u00bb and dismissed them, along with claims the women had been victimised.<\/p>\n
The judgement said the trust’s policy had an \u00ab\u00a0admirable and noble purpose\u00a0\u00bb, but it had the effect of \u00ab\u00a0violating the dignity\u00a0\u00bb of the nurses and of \u00ab\u00a0creating for them a hostile, humiliating and degrading environment\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
When the nurses raised their concerns, they \u00ab\u00a0genuinely felt they were not being taken seriously\u00a0\u00bb and were \u00ab\u00a0being in essence fobbed off by senior management and seen as trouble-makers\u00a0\u00bb, the panel said.<\/p>\n
At no point did anyone in management or the trust’s HR department \u00ab\u00a0seriously consider\u00a0\u00bb how their policy \u00ab\u00a0might constitute some form of discrimination against female employees\u00a0\u00bb, the judgement said.<\/p>\n
The panel also concluded the nurses were \u00ab\u00a0correct in their belief\u00a0\u00bb that management was \u00ab\u00a0not going to address the core issue\u00a0\u00bb, which was the use of the female changing room by a \u00ab\u00a0biological male trans woman\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Similarly, asking Rose to change elsewhere was \u00ab\u00a0never on the cards\u00a0\u00bb for managers, even though the \u00ab\u00a0stark numerical reality\u00a0\u00bb was that some 300 women used the changing room and Rose was the only trans person.<\/p>\n
Asking Rose to change somewhere else would have been \u00ab\u00a0reasonable and feasible\u00a0\u00bb, the panel said.<\/p>\n
Instead, a small cubicle adjoining a meeting room was converted into a changing room for those that complained.<\/p>\n
Also, an HR manager told the nurses to \u00ab\u00a0broaden their minds\u00a0\u00bb, which \u00ab\u00a0served to highlight to the nurses that they were not being taken seriously\u00a0\u00bb and reinforced \u00ab\u00a0the feeling they were seen as transphobic or bigoted\u00a0\u00bb, the panel said.<\/p>\n
The tribunal said the nurses were \u00ab\u00a0entitled to a remedy\u00a0\u00bb and encouraged all parties to agree on one without the need for further hearings.<\/p>\n
The trust’s policy was withdrawn in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that ruled the legal definition of a woman should be based on biological sex, the panel said.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the judgement was released, Bethany Hutchison, one of the nurses, said it was a \u00ab\u00a0victory for common sense\u00a0\u00bb and a \u00ab\u00a0turning point\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
She said women deserved access to single-sex spaces \u00ab\u00a0without fear or intimidation\u00a0\u00bb and the trust’s policy had been \u00ab\u00a0degrading\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0dangerous\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Ms Hutchison said she was \u00ab\u00a0absolutely delighted\u00a0\u00bb with the judgement, which was a \u00ab\u00a0massive vindication\u00a0\u00bb, and the ruling \u00ab\u00a0showed we were in the right the whole time\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Her colleague Lisa Lockey said organisations needed to \u00ab\u00a0listen to women\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
We have experienced such a silencing, we weren’t allowed to complain and were gas-lighted by our trust,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
She was made to feel like a \u00ab\u00a0terrible person\u00a0\u00bb for \u00ab\u00a0having the audacity to complain\u00a0\u00bb, she added.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said the organisation was \u00ab\u00a0taking time to review the judgement\u00a0\u00bb and would comment further \u00ab\u00a0once we have had the opportunity to consider it in full\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n
Rose has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n
Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hospital bosses violated the dignity of a group of female nurses who complained about a transgender woman using their changing room, an employment tribunal has found. Eight nurses from Darlington Memorial Hospital claimed they had been \u00ab\u00a0penalised\u00a0\u00bb by managers for objecting to Rose Henderson, a biological male who identifies as a woman, using the single-sex […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}