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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Darlington nurses win their employment tribunal

488 replies

Lovelyview · 16/01/2026 11:43

https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/victory-for-darlington-nurses-as-judge-rules-policy-that-allows-men-into-womens-changing-rooms-is-unlawful-harassment-and-discrimination/

Brilliant news!

Victory for Darlington nurses as Judge rules policy that allows men into women’s changing rooms is unlawful harassment and discrimination - Christian Concern

In a landmark judgment, an Employment Tribunal has ruled that County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust unlawfully discriminated against and harassed the female nurses by requiring them to share female-only changing rooms with a biological male...

https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/victory-for-darlington-nurses-as-judge-rules-policy-that-allows-men-into-womens-changing-rooms-is-unlawful-harassment-and-discrimination/

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19
Citrusbergamia · 16/01/2026 12:54

heathspeedwell · 16/01/2026 12:47

Just wanted to highlight this bit from the Mail. It shows how disturbing it was for Karen Danson, who like many of us is a survivor of sexual abuse, to be forced to undress with a man she didn't know:

"One nurse, Karen Danson, told the tribunal that at the end of September 2023, she encountered Henderson at close quarters, wearing just nursing scrubs on their upper half and tight black boxer shorts with holes in them.
In her witness statement, she said she had first encountered Henderson around August 2023 and thought that the colleague was male.
'RH looked masculine, had facial hair, and there was nothing in RH's appearance to suggest RH was anything other than a man,' she said.
She added that when she heard a rumour a trans person had joined the trust she 'expected a trans person to look and dress and generally present themselves as a woman'.
Giving evidence to the tribunal in October, Ms Danson said that when she encountered Henderson in the changing room, they asked her three times whether she would be getting changed.
Ms Danson was horrified and told the tribunal that the incident reignited sex abuse trauma she suffered as a child.
She said: 'I had walked into the changing room, and I had to walk past Rose Henderson's locker to get to mine, which is right at the bottom of the L-shaped changing room.
'Rose Henderson and I did not know each other at all, and we were alone in the changing room. I was rummaging through my bag trying to find the keys for my locker when I suddenly heard a male voice from behind my back asking, "Are you not getting changed yet?"

'I simply said "No". I kept rummaging through my bag and found my keys.
'I opened the locker and started rummaging through it to find my cream. And then Rose Henderson's voice again said, "Are you not getting changed yet?" I again said "No".
'I kept rummaging through my locker, but I was forgetting what I was looking for because all I could think about was: "Why is this man asking me if I am getting changed? Is he trying to provoke me for a reason?"’

god that poor woman. 😥I know the spasm of terror that flashes through you when a strange man is too close for comfort. It should NEVER have come to a court case. It's bloody enrages me so much.

heathspeedwell · 16/01/2026 12:47

Just wanted to highlight this bit from the Mail. It shows how disturbing it was for Karen Danson, who like many of us is a survivor of sexual abuse, to be forced to undress with a man she didn't know:

"One nurse, Karen Danson, told the tribunal that at the end of September 2023, she encountered Henderson at close quarters, wearing just nursing scrubs on their upper half and tight black boxer shorts with holes in them.
In her witness statement, she said she had first encountered Henderson around August 2023 and thought that the colleague was male.
'RH looked masculine, had facial hair, and there was nothing in RH's appearance to suggest RH was anything other than a man,' she said.
She added that when she heard a rumour a trans person had joined the trust she 'expected a trans person to look and dress and generally present themselves as a woman'.
Giving evidence to the tribunal in October, Ms Danson said that when she encountered Henderson in the changing room, they asked her three times whether she would be getting changed.
Ms Danson was horrified and told the tribunal that the incident reignited sex abuse trauma she suffered as a child.
She said: 'I had walked into the changing room, and I had to walk past Rose Henderson's locker to get to mine, which is right at the bottom of the L-shaped changing room.
'Rose Henderson and I did not know each other at all, and we were alone in the changing room. I was rummaging through my bag trying to find the keys for my locker when I suddenly heard a male voice from behind my back asking, "Are you not getting changed yet?"

'I simply said "No". I kept rummaging through my bag and found my keys.
'I opened the locker and started rummaging through it to find my cream. And then Rose Henderson's voice again said, "Are you not getting changed yet?" I again said "No".
'I kept rummaging through my locker, but I was forgetting what I was looking for because all I could think about was: "Why is this man asking me if I am getting changed? Is he trying to provoke me for a reason?"’

zanahoria · 16/01/2026 12:45

murasaki · 16/01/2026 12:10

I guess they were never going to put it in one person, and to be honest, I think it's more important to state that the trust behaved illegally. Even though I totally believe the nurses re Rose's behaviour.

I agree and it would also be far harder to prove that Rose had harassed them as all they were verbal incidents.

AnSolas · 16/01/2026 12:44

Can anyone imagine that in 2026 a UK court would have to rule that a woman has no implied contractual obligation to undress with infront of male employees?

Congrats ladies!

Taytoface · 16/01/2026 12:44

Hurrah. That is all.

highame · 16/01/2026 12:42

The unions are digging in their heels (pun intended). Even they will have to get real at some point but I'm not holding my breath

Sievecandle · 16/01/2026 12:42

Such good news! Well done to those women!

Dancingsquirrels · 16/01/2026 12:41

Well done those brave women

Awesome news

EasternStandard · 16/01/2026 12:39

Amazing! I’m so happy. What a trial for them, so pleased they won.

JustTryingToBeMe · 16/01/2026 12:36

I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw the headline this morning 👏 It is amazing news and those women were so brave to take this all the way to get this judgement. What worries me is whether this is demonstrating a clear difference between the Scottish and English judiciaries’ interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling and that we are going to see our Scottish counterparts disadvantaged by their government‘s continued view on trans ideology 😞

Citrusbergamia · 16/01/2026 12:35

It should NEVER have come to this but I'm so so pleased for those wonderful ladies. Thank you SO much for highlighting this as I'm sure it can't have been easy for you all. just fabulous new. 💖

theilltemperedamateur · 16/01/2026 12:35

whatwouldafeministdo · 16/01/2026 12:27

Really there need to be actual firings.

Senior managers knowingly broke the law. They knowing created a hostile and degrading environment for frontline female staff. They need to be publicly humiliated for demanding these poor nurses strip in front of a male colleague just because the senior managers wanted them to do so. They belittled and shamed these women, gaslit, coerced them and made their daily work so much harder by forcing them to change in an inappropriate space.

Their actions regarding Karen's Danson's operation should result in criminal charges because they were acting to commit assault upon her knowing she did not consent to 'Rose' participating. It's outrageous. The police should really be involved. This was complete abuse of power and failure to safeguard a patient.

We need proper accountability back in the NHS or I fear it's toast.

Edited

The respondent's liability might be mitigated by the fact that they were following EHRC's 2011 guidance (now known to be wrong). I don't know what that means in practice, as we don't have punitive damages in England. Does anyone know?

Greyskybluesky · 16/01/2026 12:35

KermitTheToad · 16/01/2026 12:33

How the fook is it sour grapes if I am playing devil's advocate and asking a simple question?

How is anyone to know you're playing devil's advocate? Your post looked exactly like the typical TRA stirring we get on here. Make it clear if you're not. And maybe start a new thread to ask your question instead of derailing this one?

Theeyeballsinthesky · 16/01/2026 12:34

KermitTheToad · 16/01/2026 12:27

So even if they are post op it's okay for them to strip off and show their male genitals?

You think a pretend penis fashioned from skin grafted from a forearm is indistinguishable from an actual penis? 😳

whatwouldafeministdo · 16/01/2026 12:34

KermitTheToad · 16/01/2026 12:27

So even if they are post op it's okay for them to strip off and show their male genitals?

As far as I'm concerned yes because they're not male genitals. They're not functional. Females don't pose a risk.

Now we KNOW single sex spaces are going to be actually single sex, and following the law, we can rest assured that anyone male presenting in there is really female (it's usually obvious anyway).

In general, though, the BEHAVIOUR of trans identified females still is much more considerate of other people of the female sex and tend to consider them as deserving of human rights, unlike the male trans-identified people who seem to enjoy frightening, exhibiting predatory behaviour and causing distress. So I think often they self-exclude and/or use gender neutral / mixed sex spaces anyway.

midgetastic · 16/01/2026 12:34

The BBC are calling it “partial”

Jamesblonde2 · 16/01/2026 12:33

Superb!

KermitTheToad · 16/01/2026 12:33

Greyskybluesky · 16/01/2026 12:29

Are you trying to "gotcha" this victory?

Sour grapes.

How the fook is it sour grapes if I am playing devil's advocate and asking a simple question?

Ebok1990 · 16/01/2026 12:33

PriOn1 · 16/01/2026 12:06

Thank goodness! Finally common sense has been reinstated in a judgment regarding NHS provisions for women.

Congratulations to the nurses involved.

This is more akin to how I feel. I'm not celebrating that it's come to this. That we have to go to court to prove that someone with a cock n balls is a man.

ThatCyanCat · 16/01/2026 12:32

heathspeedwell · 16/01/2026 12:26

The average transman in the UK is all of 5 foot 2 and they very rarely pass, because they tend to have narrow shoulders, wide hips, female features and tiny hands and feet.
But the Supreme court ruling makes it clear that in the rare cases where a transman passes enough to cause alarm to women and girls then a third space will be necessary.

Or rather, that they can legally be excluded from a female space despite being women if they really, really do pass as men. Because their presence will cause distress and self exclusion as if they were men, and it's a fair price of safeguarding that some women will be excluded if they have made such extreme body modifications that they no longer resemble women. That's their choice and their problem.

There isn't currently a legal obligation to provide a third space. TRAs have never used their crazy amount of clout to campaign for that, or even to keep trans identifying men safe in male spaces. Only to get women erased, bulldozed and punished for non compliance in the stupidest, plainest lie.

murasaki · 16/01/2026 12:31

heathspeedwell · 16/01/2026 12:29

It would be wonderful if some senior managers were fired as a result of this. Things won't improve for women until those responsible for creating a humiliating and hostile environment for women start losing their jobs.

Won't happen, some reshuffling and the odd early retirement that of course has nothing to do with this, no siree.

heathspeedwell · 16/01/2026 12:31

If a transman has stripped off sadly it will be more than obvious that their 'penis' is a rolled up strip of skin that was flayed from their arm or thigh.

Helleofabore · 16/01/2026 12:30

Congratulations you brave women!!

lifeinthelastlane · 16/01/2026 12:29

They won't have "male genitals"

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