'Victory for every woman who wants to feel safe:' Nurses who sued NHS over trans colleague using female changing room win case
The nurses were successful in their harassment claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
A group of nurses who complained about a trans colleague using the same women's changing rooms as them at work have won their harassment claim in a landmark case.
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The eight employees of the Day Surgery Unit at Darlington Memorial Hospital claimed Rose Henderson, who was born a male but identifies as a woman, was allowed to use the same changing facilities as them.
The women claimed it violated their dignity, creating a "hostile, intimidating, humiliating and degrading environment" for them.
Darlington nurse Bethany Hutchison, who led the claim, said afterwards that the ruling was a "victory for every woman who simply wants to feel safe at work."
Read more: NHS board harassed nurse who complained about trans doctor in female changing room, tribunal rules
The claim was brought against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and the hearing in Newcastle on Friday ruled that they were victims of harassment and sex discrimination.
The nurses claimed that Rose stared at colleagues in the female changing rooms, and repeatedly asked one of them why she was not getting changed and walked round the room in boxer shorts.
In response to the allegations, Rose told the panel: "I am not the individual (the claimants) have painted me to be."
She described how "upsetting" it had been to see "hordes of people" posting insults online after the case came to public attention.
The nurses brought a claim for harassment, victimisation and indirect sex discrimination. In its judgment, the tribunal found that Rose had not harassed or victimised the claimants.
Employment Judge Seamus Sweeney said: "The trust subjected the claimants to harassment related to sex and gender reassignment by permitting the claimants’ biological male, trans woman colleague to use the female changing room and requiring the claimants to share that changing room without providing suitable alternative facilities."
The ruling said the trust also subjected the nurses to harassment by not taking their concerns seriously and added: "This included referring to the need for the claimants to be educated on trans rights and to broaden their mindsets, the later provision of inadequate and unsuitable changing facilities for those who objected to sharing the female changing room with that colleague."
Judge Sweeney added: "The above conduct had the effect of violating the dignity of the claimants and creating a hostile, intimidating, humiliating and degrading environment for them."
The tribunal hearings in Newcastle last year heard evidence from the nurses, the trust and Rose before the panel adjourned the proceedings in November to consider its findings.
Darlington nurse Bethany Hutchison led the claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust over its policy of allowing a transgender colleague to use female changing rooms.
After the tribunal judgment in Newcastle, she said: "This is a victory for common sense and for every woman who simply wants to feel safe at work."
She added: "Women deserve access to single-sex spaces without fear or intimidation. Forcing us to undress in front of a man was not only degrading but dangerous.
"Today’s ruling sends a clear message - the NHS cannot ignore women’s rights in the name of ideology.
"We stood up because we knew this was wrong. No woman should be forced to choose between her job and her safety.
"This ruling is a turning point, and we will keep fighting until every woman in the NHS is guaranteed the dignity and protection she deserves."
The tribunal concluded that, “by permitting a biological male, trans woman to use the female changing room” the trust was in breach of workplace regulations.
It had added that it had infringed the claimants' right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The judgment said the trust's changing room policy "put women at a particular disadvantage when compared to men, in that women are more likely than men to experience feelings or apprehensions of, fear, distress and/or humiliation by, in effect, being required to change their clothes in front of a member of the opposite sex."
"The claimants were all put to that disadvantage" it said.
A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are taking time to review the judgment carefully and will comment further once we have had the opportunity to consider it in full."
Maya Forstater, chief executive of sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, said: "The clear, sensible judgment reflects both the Supreme Court judgment and workplace regulations on single-sex toilets and changing rooms.
"The stark contrast to the ruling handed down in the Sandie Peggie case, where the judge refused to accept that allowing trans-identifying men into female-only facilities violates basic expectations of privacy and dignity, and creates a hostile and humiliating environment for women.
"The judge accepted evidence from Sex Matters’ advisory group member Professor Jo Phoenix that women are more likely than men to be uncomfortable undressing in communal spaces, and in particular to fear the presence of men in these situations."