A Trans Former Editor At The Times Is Suing For Transphobic Bullying And Discrimination

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/patrickstrudwick/times-sued-transphobic-bullying-former-editor

I found this part particularly interesting:

As well as the standard employment law charges such as discrimination and victimisation, the case also rests on an argument that has never before been tested.

O'Donnell and her lawyer — Robin White of Old Square Chambers — allege that it wasn't just what happened in the newsroom but also what those inside it published in the newspaper about trans people that constituted a hostile, transphobic place to work.

Should O’Donnell be successful, therefore, it would mean a newsroom’s output could be deemed an internal, employment issue too. News outlets may in future have to consider how their coverage of trans people and other minority groups could be in breach of employment laws that protect members of these communities on their own staff from discrimination and bullying.

From reading the article it seems that this is quite a significant part of their case and it seems that this could be quite interesting to watch.

On the one hand it can be argued that this individual was subject to horrible bullying and her pleas for her employer to stop inciting public transphobia were ignored.

On the other it could be seen as a tale of an employer who simply could not cope with the demands of their employee who were demanding that didn't consider science in their discussion of a current issue.

I used to work at The Times. Her account of the atmosphere is very much how I used to feel as a woman. Welcome to our world Katherine.

“If O’Donnell wins, it could also set a precedent for news covering a range of minorities that are protected under the Equality Act 2010 from discrimination and abuse: gay people, disabled people, BAME people and those from different faiths”

And women?

Pretty much all of this reads like they genuinely did treat Kathryn as a woman; being talked over in meetings? Welcome to being a lass!

The reality of being a woman didn't match Katherine's fantasy of it. It can be shit, as we know.

Newspapers are already suffering massive falls in sales and having to take into account their employees' feelings won't exactly help them survive. If you can't stand the heat, keep out of the kitchen.

Hmm. In my experience, big companies try and avoid employment tribunals unless they're pretty certain they're going to win.

As for being ignored, talked over and having your ideas nicked - did you not notice that happening to women over the many years you worked there pre-transition? Or was it only when it happened to you that you cared?

Kathryn seems to have managed fine as a male in the company. Clearly not noticing what was happening to women.

or care

Uneducated men talk about transwomen in same derogatory fashion as women shocker. Guess you passed Katherine.

It might be illegal to refuse to hire someone who is trans on the basis they are trans but in the present climate would most employers risk it or would they find an excuse - any excuse - to hire someone else?

The callous and dehumanising nature of the comments, however intended, left me feeling as if the floor had opened up beneath me and that I had fallen into a reality in which what these men really thought of me and people like me was revealed.”

Key phrase here ‘fallen into reality’.

Sounds like just another day for any woman in a male dominated office to me.
Yes it’s shit and I am sorry that this journalist had to deal with it (..exactly like her other female colleagues have to do..) but it’s definitely not an experience restricted to transwomen.

Oh dear. What a terrible shame.

Person wants to be treated like a woman. Is horrified when they are treated like a woman. Shocker.

So if successful, what the Daily Mail publishes about e.g. Muslims would have to adhere to how employers have to behave towards their Muslim employees? This is definitely interesting. Almost certain to lose, I expect, as it would restrict what/ how things can be reported beyond recognition.

There are ongoing challenges against the Times by some prominant TRAs.

Home Affairs Committee on Hate Crimes reported by James Kirkup in Spectator:

May 2018 'Why are some MPs trying to shut down the transgender debate?'

(extract)
The other column that Doughty was so interested in also concerned children. In particular, he was struck by the Times’ headline using the phrase “trans lobby”. This, for reference, was on a column that argued that a number of changes in policy and convention are being made at the urging of groups advocating things that they say would benefit transgender people which, the columnist suggested, were not in the best interests of children. “You will understand why that is a particular concern, given the previous use of “gay lobby”, “Jewish lobby” and all of those sorts of things,” Doughty said. “Do you think the use of the phrase “trans lobby” is an appropriate one?”

As it happens, Dr Carmichael in her lecture said some things that seem relevant here:

“Gender has become amazingly topical and we have to be really careful not to assume that anyone is exploring or questioning their gender is going to want to change their bodies in line with that. The extremes on either side are not helpful. We need to look at the grey areas in between. To do that we need to be able to talk and discuss these issues. All too often stakeholders become lobby groups.” (continues)

Doughty, meanwhile, describes as “extreme” and “hate material” an article which observes that some people lobbying for changes in the name of transgender people are advocating things that might not be in the best interests of children. I have never met Doughty but have generally heard good things about him from colleagues: bright, committed, thoughtful and so on. So I must assume that he was having an off day when the committee met last week. It happens to us all, after all.

Surely a bright, thoughtful chap like him didn’t mean to imply that it was his job as Member of Parliament to tell newspapers what they can and cannot write? Surely he had no intention of acting as if it is in any way appropriate for a politician to decide what is and is not acceptable for journalists to say, and how they say it? And I can only hope that it was by a simple accident that he singled out by name a female journalist and suggested that her employers stop her saying the things that she thinks – because Doughty happens not to like her saying those things? (continues)
blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/why-are-some-mps-trying-to-shut-down-the-transgender-debate/

thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3233421-Home-Affairs-Committee-Hate-crime-enquiry-Newspaper-editors-interviewed

December2018 Edward Lord letter to Rebecca Brooks:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3459026-Edward-Lord-asking-the-Sunday-Times-to-censor-Andrew-Gilligan

May 2018 On Zoe O'Connell (LGBT+ Libdems/Stonewall) unfounded complaints against David Davies MP:
Andrew Gilligan comment, Zoe O'Connell also made "equally stupid" IPSO complaint against him:

twitter.com/mragilligan/status/1001830695466041344

to embedded IPSO judgement : [[www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=20177-17]]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3263172-Andrew-Gilligan-Latest-bullying-transgender-complaint-swiftly-rejected-by-parliamentary-standards-committee

Helen Belcher (Trans Media Watch) unfounded accusations against Janice Turner:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3569148-Vindication-for-Janice-Turner-IPSO-complaint-result

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3393577-Janice-Turner-accused-of-causing-trans-suicides

There are ongoing challenges against the Times by some prominant TRAs

Maybe it's just FWR, or greater awareness but it seems as if there has been a lot of these cases in the past year or so.

Giuliana. Helen Islan. Hayden (lots).

A cynic might wonder if this was a coordinated strategic litigation strategy.

I wonder if O’Donnell ever stood up for any women suffering the same treatment up until transitioning?

Someone who identifies as a lawyer now being a Dr isn't working out is waxing lyrical re the legal implications.

Maybe lesbians at the Guardian and the BBC ought to do the same over their endorsement of lesbophobic views.

Maybe it's just FWR, or greater awareness but it seems as if there has been a lot of these cases in the past year or so.

There's also been a lot going on behind the scenes with regards media lobbying/education by TRAs eg Trans Media Watch, All About Trans etc

www.allabouttrans.org.uk/about/resources/

www.transmediawatch.org/

Link to thread.

twitter.com/adrianharrop/status/1124583106500014080?s=21

I wonder if O’Donnell ever stood up for any women suffering the same treatment up until transitioning?

YY, I noted that O'Donnell claimed sexism as well as transphobia.

I’m glad they are bringing the case, and I can’t wait to see Harrop’s meltdown when the judge rules in favour of science.

I’m also glad TRAs are going after companies with the money to fight back instead of soft-targets like self-employed beauticians. Bring it on!

Yes, I'm glad they've gone after the Times as they have deep pockets and this needs fighting.

Difficult and abrasive are terms frequently used to describe women in the workplace who stand their ground.”

"Difficult fficult and abrasive" are used to describe people who are difficult and abrasive.I used exactly those words this week to describe the puzzling behaviour by a male solicitor on the other side of a transaction being made difficult by such behaviour.

Well there will be no shortage of "expert" witnesses who the Times will be able to call to talk about the realities of life as a woman in the workplace. Did this person think they could just sign up for the "fun" dressing up part without all the bollocks women have to put up with?

As for the other aspect of what the paper publishes. That could be fun - every woman working on a newspaper/magazine could bring a claim about the sexist, misogynistic crap churned out on a daily basis. This could be a turning point for women.......

Bullying - very probably , Transphobia - quite possibly ... But

"MacLeod encouraged her to write to the executive to raise her concerns. “Angus cried and said he was very sorry and felt he had let me down,”"

Angus MacLeod - in tears? Don't believe it.