Court cases/Judicial Reviews/ET/ETAs

[ArabellaScott]

A thread of court cases involving people with 'gender critical' beliefs. So they are all in one place. I'll try and add links to court judgements where I can find them.

I'll add cases as I have time but please feel free to add others and/or remind me of any I've missed!

1. Maria McLachlan, Tara Wolf. Assault by beating/battery.

https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/04/27/trans-identified-male-tara-wolf-charged-assault-hyde-park-attack/

'Tara Wolf (also known as Tara Flik Wood), a trans-identified male, stood trial for striking 60-year-old Maria MacLachlan three times in Hyde Park on September 13th 2017, where women had gathered to attend a meeting called “We Need to Talk About Gender” at a yet-to-be-disclosed location. Wolf was found guilty of “assault by beating,” more commonly known as “battery.”'

Oh yes! well remembered...

Claudia Clare

June 2023

Britain’s top arts school has been forced to pay thousands of pounds to a gender-critical charity and apologise after a feminist artist was cancelled.
Claudia Clare, 61, had been booked for two years to display her ceramics project about women escaping the sex trade in April last year at Ceramic Art London, the UK’s staple ceramics show.

Now, both UAL and the CPA have agreed to settle her employment tribunal claim and apologise for the row, with no admission of liability.
As part of the settlement, binded by Acas this week, both organisations have agreed to donate £10,000 to women@thewell, a sex-based rights charity that supports women affected by prostitution and runs a drop-in centre. The college is donating £6,500 and paying her legal fees, while the trade body is giving £3,500.

Read full article here...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/17/top-arts-school-apologise-cancelling-feminist-artist/

https://archive.ph/hO6BV

Also just adding Jess de Wahls, although not a court case it was still a win!

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/jun/23/royal-academy-of-arts-apologises-to-jess-de-wahls-in-transphobia-row

https://archive.ph/jy9bq

Dear Arabella Scott
Thank you so much for taking this on. Typically selfless act. This will be a very valuable resource.
Haven't RTFT yet, but would you like some help, or do you have A System?
🌟💐

Great thread @ArabellaScott

A System.

Now that would have been a good idea, wouldn't it?!

Any and all help welcome - if there's a court case or JR that has been missed, please do add it to the thread!

Pilgrim Tucker v the OU

'My name is Pilgrim Tucker. I am taking legal action against the Open University for breach of contract, discrimination on the basis of my disabilites and gender critical beliefs, and bullying, harassment and victimisation, which has made it impossible for me to continue my PhD research at the OU'

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4839271-pilgrim-tucker-v-open-university

Cathy Boardman v BIMM University

'A lecturer at a prominent music academy says she has been forced out of her job after she suggested drag acts could be viewed as sexist.
Cathy Boardman, a lecturer in cultural studies, had asked her class to reflect on 'womanface' – a critical term for female impersonation – and whether or not it was demeaning.
But bosses at the BIMM Institute , which has outposts around the country and links with Sussex University, told her this was a 'deeply sensitive' subject and that transgender students had been left upset.
Ms Boardman was then dismissed from her post.'

University folded,

'Cathy Boardman and BIMM University have reached agreement in respect of Ms Boardman’s on-going employment tribunal claims. Whilst BIMM makes no admission on liability it does recognise the stress and upset felt by Ms Boardman due to the events leading up to the termination of her employment. BIMM understands that Ms Boardman undertook her teaching at the University in a way she considered to be in the best interests of the institution. BIMM recognises that Ms Boardman holds legally protected beliefs in the immutability of sex. BIMM strives to ensure that all protected characteristics are respected in accordance with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. BIMM is a committed equal opportunities employer and will take into consideration the issues raised by Ms Boardman as part of her Tribunal claim. BIMM wishes Ms Boardman well for the future.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11130491/Music-academy-lecturer-sacked-comments-drag-queens-femininity-takes-legal-action.html

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cathy-boardman-lecturer-in-trans-row-sues-over-sacking-l8lbrcgn5

https://twitter.com/grittynorthern/status/1707058992202019212?s=46&t=NGJBRqkXgp1UazF5I8yjXA

Lizzie Pitt v Cambridgeshire County Council

I can only find the CrowdJustice page, which I can't link to, but text is posted below:

'I am a social worker, and a lesbian who believes that sex is real, and matters. Sex matters particularly to me as a woman who is exclusively sexually attracted to women. I do not believe that men can literally become women.

When I sought to participate in meetings of a workplace LGBTQIA group and expressed my “gender critical” belief, I was subjected to a group complaint by colleagues followed by a disciplinary process resulting in formal “management action” designed to silence me. I was also excluded from the network. The whole process was intensely stressful and humiliating for me. It left me feeling that my colleagues and my employer regarded me as a bigot who could only be tolerated in the workplace if I was forced to keep my beliefs to myself even when they were relevant.

I am aware of colleagues that share my view but are too afraid to speak out.

This kind of silencing and bullying is happening in local authorities, schools, colleges, universities, NHS trusts etc, up and down the country. A false consensus is imposed through a climate of fear. This has serious consequences for the way professionals like social workers, clinicians, teachers and others do their jobs - and serious consequences for the safeguarding of some of the most vulnerable in society.

It needs to stop. Will you help me to stop it?

I’m suing my employer, Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC), in the employment tribunal for harassment and discrimination. Employers won’t learn that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable unless they can see other employers being found liable by a tribunal and having to pay compensation. If you donate money to help me run this case, I understand that you’re doing so much more for the sake of that public example than to help me personally. I promise to give that fact full weight in any decision I make about settlement, and I promise I won’t settle on confidential terms unless I truly feel I have no alternative.
I am initially raising funds for legal representation for the Preliminary Hearing. The target for this stage of proceedings is £17,500.'

Ms A

'A mum has won a court ruling that prevents her ex-husband from allowing their 15-year-old teenager to receive private gender-affirming healthcare treatment.
It is a landmark verdict in cases where divorced parents disagree about what treatment should be given to transgender children.
The High Court ruling allows the mother to stop her transgender child from being treated outside the NHS with private healthcare.
The verdict, made in August, sets a precedent ahead of a full hearing in the family division of the High Court next week.'

Text from the Crowdfunder copied and pasted below:

'I, Ms A, am the mum of a beautiful, clever, funny, gender-non-conforming teenager who believes they are the opposite sex. My ex-husband and I disagree on whether our child should have access to medical gender treatment outside the NHS.
I applied to the Family Court for a prohibited steps order and have been granted an interim one that prevents our child from receiving medical treatment outside the NHS. This expires, however, when our child turns 16 years old early next year. I am encouraged by the cautious approach of the NHS that was recently set out in its new service specification. However, many children, young people and their parents can avoid the safeguards set up by the NHS by going to a private clinic in England or a telemedicine provider overseas such as GenderGP. I believe that this undermines attempts to protect children and young people from accessing life-changing and potentially irreversible treatment which does not, to date, have a compelling body of evidence to support it.
In March 2021, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published systematic evidence reviews into the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in children under 18. I understand that they found that the evidence for the benefits of their use was of very low quality. I think that while there may be short-term psychological benefits associated with the administration of hormonal interventions to youth, they must be weighed against the long-term risks to bone health, fertility, and other as-yet-unknown risks of life-long hormonal supplementation. I want to ensure that my child receives appropriate care and treatment in accordance with the new approach of the NHS and will therefore seek to extend the Order until the age of 18.
I have represented myself up to now, but the case has reached the High Court and I am out of my depth. Litigation on transgender issues is novel and I need specialist legal advice. To do that I need to raise funds as I work in low paid employment and cannot afford representation. I also do not qualify for legal aid. I am aiming to raise £20,000 to cover some of my legal fees and to engage experts in this field to support me in court. I think such examination of the evidence and what is in my child’s best interests will not only be of benefit to my child but to other children and parents in this position.'

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mother-wins-landmark-court-ruling-to-stop-child-having-private-trans-treatment-3zgxpnkwq

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12657457/Mums-court-fight-ex-husband-childs-gender-switch.html

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1826758/Trans-healthcare-teenager-court-battle

John Hemming v Sonia Poulton

Seems quite complicated and ongoing, and includes various other parties/cases.

I'm copying and pasting this three-year long case with some selected events: .

https://www.soniapoulton.co.uk/fighting-fund

Sonia Poulton (journalist) is suing an ex MP John Hemming for harassment, and Samuel Collingwood Smith.

'Samuel Collingwood Smith - who I am suing for harassment alongside his friend, John Hemming - has dropped his defamation lawsuit against me'

June 11, 2021

'The High Court has handed down judgment today in Hemming vs Poulton and I am delighted to say that Ex-Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming has been refused Summary Judgment/Strikeout. We proceed to trial.'

Update from July 2, 2021 - costs awarded

'The second application, from Mr. Darren Laverty, who had been added into the counterclaim to sue me and he was seeking costs against me. Mr. Laverty had hoped to sue me for harassment, but all eight incidents were knocked out. Leaving just one point of defamation regarding a James English podcast.
“This attempt to produce a counterclaim was ambitious and over extensive,” commented the Judge.

The upshot, of course, as my barrister, Richard Munden, stated was: “Miss Poulton has been put to serious expense and should be entitled to those costs.”
It turns out the Judge agreed with us.
I am delighted to say BOTH costs order were made in my favour with 85% of my costs for the Hemming v Poulton hearing ordered by the Judge to be repaid to me. '

Update from September 2021: - case settled

'My court case involving Darren Laverty has been settled. It was made plain to me that even if I won at trial - and there was no guarantee of such - I would not be able to recover the significant sums of money spent on legal costs. It was therefore decided to end litigation on both sides.'

Update April 1st, 2022:

'Mr. Hemming has decided to substantially update his lawsuit and has applied to add more High Court claims against me, including charges of malice. '

Latest update:

Monday, August 21, 2023

Today marks three years since ex-MP John Hemming - and his friend and colleague, Samuel Collingwood-Smith - began litigating against me.
The first lawsuit from Mr. Hemming, which is still ongoing, claimed I had defamed him. I maintain I did not.
In turn, I have a harassment claim against Mr. Smith and Mr. Hemming.
We have a two-day High Court hearing on October 17th and 18th, 2023 before Hon. Mr. Justice Nicklin and I will update accordingly.

However, as synchronicity would have it, I am updating this legal page today because the last lawsuit claim against me from Mr. Hemming in June this year (see post below this) has been denied by the High Court in London.

The stamped Order gave Mr. Hemming until last Friday, August 18th, to respond to the ruling (known as a ‘stay’) should he wish to pursue this new lawsuit against me.
The deadline passed. No response was forthcoming. (See update above dated: August 24, 2023).
At this stage, Mr. Hemming’s newest lawsuit - this one regarding my film ‘Paedophiles in Parliament (2018)' - will not proceed.

Revealed today is also that Sonia Poulton is a complainant in PC Watson's case:

https://twitter.com/ripx4nutmeg/status/1717829492360536146

'A hearing will take place today of a 'transgender' police officer who allegedly stalked women online. PC Watson is alleged to have posted thousands of abusive messages to people who don't believe men are women, and focused on the founders of@WeAreFairCop'
'It's not been fully disclosed until today but the other complainant against PC Watson is@SoniaPoulton, who Watson encouraged people to criminally prosecute because he disagreed with her. Sonia says: "You can’t have a cop using their job like their own private prosecution force"'

'A hearing will take place today of a 'transgender' police officer who allegedly stalked women online. PC Watson is alleged to have posted thousands of abusive messages to people who don't believe men are women, and focused on the founders of@WeAreFairCop'
'It's not been fully disclosed until today but the other complainant against PC Watson is@SoniaPoulton, who Watson encouraged people to criminally prosecute because he disagreed with her. Sonia says: "You can’t have a cop using their job like their own private prosecution force"'

Oh that's interesting. I've seen the Faircop account going on about this person for months!

.

More info on the PC Watson Case. PC Watson is a transwoman police officer who had been aiming abusive tweets at FairCop and Harry Miller from multiple sock accounts over a period of 18 months...

A Leicestershire police officer has been dismissed after creating fake Twitter personas to send abusive messages to a member of the public. Police constable Lynsay Watson aimed tweets at Harry Miller and the Fair Cop group which were abusive and derogatory, a police misconduct hearing heard today.
She called Mr Miller, founder of campaign group Fair Cop, a “Nazi”, a “fascist”, a “bigot”, and a “narcissist”. PC Watson also doctored photos to suggest he was violent toward women, the hearing was told, and labelled the Fair Cop group “domestic terrorists”.

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicestershire-police-officer-sacked-after-8864685?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

Christie Elan-Cane v Secretary of State for the Home Dept (Dec 2021)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59667786

A campaigner has lost a Supreme Court case challenging the government's refusal to issue gender-neutral passports.

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2020-0081.html

The Appellant was born female but underwent several operations that were successful in achieving the desired status of "non-gendered." From 1995 onwards the Appellant has been in contact with Government Departments to seek to persuade the Government that a passport should be issued to the Appellant without the necessity of making a declaration of being either "male" or "female".

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/trans-woman-twitter-toilets-row-085449788.html

Chinzia Ogilvie v ivy Burrows

I'll update this with info in another post.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10911139/Mother-ordered-pay-300-compensation-transwoman-transphobic-comments-Twitter-row.html

'A woman has been ordered to pay compensation and refrain from contacting a trans woman after a Twitter row over female toilets.
Mother-of-two Chinzia Ogilvie, 43, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, was accused of sending "transphobic" messages that "invited hate" against trans woman Ivy Burrows.'

Has there been any updates on Rachel Meade’s case? I thought the tribunal were meant to reconvene this month but can’t find any updates.

Social Work England dropped the case at the end of October:

https://www.mysocialworknews.com/article/social-work-england-concludes-no-impairment-of-social-worker-accused-of-discriminatory-views

... and that was 2022! Ignore me! 😣

Easily done Thanks for looking, fingers crossed for an update soon

According to RM's CrowdJustice page the tribunal reconvened on the 7th / 8th November to make their decision so presumably it shouldn't be too long now.

Caroline Farrow v Surrey Police

Not much info on this as yet.

Farrow has been arrested and it seems persecuted by Police on several occasions. She is now going to take them to court.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11282263/Moment-police-swoop-house-devout-catholic-mother-malicious-online-posts.html

Update on Rachel Meade:

'The judge has contacted us to let us know that they have scheduled in another day to deliberate and that they then hope to be in a position that the judgment is finalised and ready to be announced in early/mid-December.'

Realise we have forgotten these charmers...

Cathy Brennan (re attempted assault of Julie Bindel)
(According to CB, CB received a "conditional fiscal fine" by the Procurator Fiscal under Section 302 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, which CB accepted)

https://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/feminist-speaker-julie-bindel-attacked-by-transgender-person-at-edinburgh-university-after-talk-545841

Grant Karte 2021 (re threats made to Jo Cherry lead to conviction)

https://www.thenational.scot/news/19480206.grant-karte-sentenced-sending-threatening-messages-joanna-cherry/

Eve Shaw 2023 (re threats made to Jo Cherry (not convicted)

https://www.thenational.scot/news/23646524.eve-shaw-not-guilty-threatening-snp-mp-joanna-cherry-twitter/

Unnamed man 2023 (Scotland received caution for assaulting a woman)

https://unherd.com/thepost/police-scotland-stands-by-as-feminist-is-attacked/

Sarah Jane Barker 2023 (recalled to prison for breaching parole conditions)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12307299/transgender-activist-sarah-jane-baker-recalled-prison.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12828065/Trans-woman-applied-council-job-mans-CV-harassment-case-against-local-authority-thrown-trying-sue-asking-use.html

'A trans woman, who applied for a council job with a man's CV, has had her harassment case against the local authority thrown out after trying to sue them for asking what name they should use.
...
a dispute at work led to the housing officer leaving her job, Ms Monroe tried to sue Central Bedfordshire Council, claiming that being asked whether she wants to be called Andy or Mandie amounted to transgender harassment.
But she has lost her case, with an employment tribunal ruling that her boss had been simply trying to 'seek clarification'.'