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Craig WilliamsBBC Scotland
Fife nurse Sandie Peggie says she will not give up her legal fight “any time soon” as she confirmed she will appeal the findings of her employment tribunal.
Ms Peggie was suspended from her job in a Kirkcaldy hospital’s A&E department after she complained about transgender doctor Beth Upton – a biological male who identifies as a woman – using a female changing room.
Earlier this week, Ms Peggie won a claim for harassment against NHS Fife but other allegations of discrimination and victimisation were dismissed.
Ms Peggie’s solicitor confirmed they would lodge the appeal in the new year.
Speaking for the first time in public at a media conference in Dundee, Ms Peggie said she felt compelled to continue with her case.
She said: “I am not a campaigner and had never heard of the phrase ‘gender critical’ when I first raised complaints over two years ago about my employer’s decision to allow men into female only changing rooms.”
“I just knew instinctively that it wasn’t right that women were expected to undress in front of men in private spaces and I still believe this to be the case.”
Ms Peggie, who has worked for the NHS for 30 years, added: “Whilst I am delighted that the tribunal was critical of Fife Health Board and found they harassed me, their judgement I believe falls short in many respects and that is why I certainly won’t be giving up this legal fight any time soon.”
The 312-page judgement, which was published on Monday, found in Ms Peggie’s favour on four counts but dismissed her other claims against both the health board and Dr Upton.
It said some of her comments towards the doctor “amounted to an incident of harassment” and breached the health board’s bullying and harassment policy.
Speaking on Thursday, Ms Peggie’s solicitor, Margaret Gribbon, described some of the findings as “problematic” and said they would make it harder for women to raise complaints in the future.
“The judgement places responsibility on female employees to raise complaints if they feel uncomfortable about sharing single sex spaces with men,” she said.
“This ignores industrial realities. When Sandie objected, she was suspended, subjected to an unreasonably lengthy disciplinary investigation and falsely accused of patient care concerns.
“It then emerged during the hearing that FHB then embarked on an archaeological dig to find material to discredit her,” she added.
Ms Gribbon said work was already underway on the appeal and it will be submitted to the Employment Appeal Tribunal in early January.
NHS Fife later released a statement which said: “We acknowledge the claimant’s right to appeal in line with the Employment Tribunal process.”
Tribunal report complaint
Earlier on Thursday, it was announced the tribunal judgement has been amended following complaints a quote used in it was “made up”.
One of Ms Peggie’s most high-profile supporters, campaigner Maya Forstater, had pointed out that a reference in the judgement to her own case against the Centre for Global Development Europe was “completely made up”.
The Peggie ruling originally stated the judgement in Ms Forstater’s case emphasised that the Equality Act does not create “a hierarchy of protected characteristics.”
On the social media platform X, Ms Forstater posted a screenshot of the text from the tribunal and said: “One of the many things wrong with the Sandie Peggie judgement.
“This ‘quote’ from my judgement doesn’t come from my judgement. It is completely made up.”
The tribunal has now issued a “certificate of correction” stating there had been “clerical mistake(s), error(s)or omissions(s)” but this does not change the overall verdict.
A new quote from the Forstater case has also been added.
The revised version of the Peggie judgement then states: “We consider that quotation provides support for the proposition that the Equality Act 2010 does not create a hierarchy of protected characteristics.”
Under employment law, a judge may “at any time correct any clerical mistake or other accidental slip or omission” and an amended version issued.
Ms Forstater said she was astonished how the error happened and that she wanted an explanation.
She added other mistakes had been spotted in the judgement and that they “severely undermine people’s confidence in the legal process.”
The employment tribunal, which was held over several weeks earlier this year, was high-profile and controversial.
It was brought by Ms Peggie after she refused to share a women’s changing room with Dr Upton at Victoria Hospital, in Kirkcaldy, and was suspended from work at the beginning of 2024.
This followed an encounter between the two in the changing facilities on Christmas Eve 2023, where Ms Peggie told Dr Upton she did not feel comfortable about the doctor’s presence there.
Equality act
Ms Peggie had also referenced Isla Bryson – a rapist who changed gender while awaiting trial.
Bryson was initially remanded to a women’s jail after being found guilty, but was then moved to a men’s facility.
The rapist was later jailed for eight years.
Ms Peggie claimed her own experiences amounted to harassment and took legal action against the health board and Dr Upton, citing the Equality Act 2010.
While the judgement found four counts in her favour, it rejected her other claims against both the health board and Dr Upton.
The tribunal concluded that some of Ms Peggie’s comments towards Dr Upton “amounted to an incident of harassment”.
It said these breached the health board’s bullying and harassment policy.
The tribunal also considered the Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.
It found that the ruling did not make it inherently unlawful for a trans female, who is biologically male under the law, to be given permission to use a female changing room at work.
But it also said the court’s ruling did not make it inherently lawful. Instead the tribunal recommended that a range of factors should be considered.
A separate hearing will take place at a later date to decide on the “remedy” for Ms Peggie, which could result in her being awarded compensation.
However the verdict was criticised by some campaigners, including Sex Matters – the group Ms Forstater is chief executive of.
