Sara Morrison vs Belfast Film Festival

[NorthernIrishFeminist]

Employers seem to be slow learners when it comes to women's rights! There’s another employment tribunal case being brought by a woman who attended and took the microphone at a Let Women Speak event in Belfast last year and has been treated very badly by her employer Belfast Film Festival as a result.

Looks like we’re going to have to keep gardening until they get the message.

disclaimer. I don’t know Sara and have no connection to BFF I’m just a woman who likes donating to causes that make a difference

Nick Wallis' blog written before the tribunal began this week states Sara Morrison's case.

Well worth a read.

https://genderblog.net/sara-morrison-v-belfast-film-festival/

I’d love it if tomorrow NC presented her with a copy of 1984

I'm not reading attitude from the judge toward NC because he is intervening to ask where the questioning is going. I think he will be fully aware of NC's reputation and is trying to ensure that the questions don't allow her a platform for wider issues.

NC was accused of that by JR in NHSFife ET. Undoubtedly NC is using these cases to make changes at a much bigger level and for good reason. She doesn't want individual women to have to face this awful silencing and cruelty just because they 'stand up for women's rights' (and MC has made a total tit of himself by claiming this is something the far right say so can't be legitimate for a feminist to say) and so she does stray into territory beyond the bounds, as it were to establish law so that employers take note and don't put folk through this. SM v BFF is the first opportunity to tackle this in the arts because even though it is a tiny organisation few in the arts have the bravery of SM. Most buckle/ hide because it is so precarious a living.

That being said, post FWS, she has no need to go into the weeds of ideology because that is now settled re EQ and Workplace Regs so she is focused much more on fairness and lack of consideration for anything outside one narrow version and how that has been used to create justify, and excuse harassment and constructive dismissal.

She's going to be so embarrased about that one when someone explains it to her.

At the moment she has been encouraged to believe that NC is a witch, they did absolutely nothing wrong because transphobic, the process is nonsense, a waste of her time and the organisation's money and so she is 'dead on' to use her words, up for a fight and confident of her own ability to lie, cheat, manipulate and distort to ensure she stays in her job.

She has no idea how she is showing herself up within the field of arts. It's interesting to think in terms of their idea of inclusivity, if a working-class person, say, wanted the gig as director of BFF they would be expected to prove they had more than a glancing knowledge with wider culture/ books etc. They would never get the job if they said they'd never heard of such a thing as wrongthink as if it was just a stupid idea bubbling out of this stupid advocate's head.

Tbf, “wrongthink” doesn’t turn up in 1984, but it’s definitely a reference to “thoughtcrime” in the manner of Newspeak.

I like the idea of judges going easy on ordinary folk, especially in a courtroom - I've given evidence twice and been on a jury twice, so I know it is daunting - especially giving evidence with the accused fixing you with an unsettling stare..

MD isn't ordinary folk, though, and judging from the transcripts, she isn't scared of anything or anyone, so her flippancy and out-of-place words like 'dead-on' aren't coming from a place of fear or nervousness.
She reads as someone sure of herself to the point of cockiness, and very very certain that she is on the Right Side of History, regardless of what any judge or tribunal or fancy barrister thinks.
I may be wrong of course.

As you say, Largofesse, the judge may have come to a similar conclusion..

He will undoubtedly be aware of how instrumental she was to the FWS judgement

Correct me if I"m wrong but NC wasn't involved in FWS.

In the Supreme Court hearing Aidan O'Neill KC appeared for FWS, and Ben Cooper KC intervened on behalf of Sex Matters.

I’ve donated to Nick. He has done a sterling job not just on this case but Glinner as well.

Thank you to all those who have posted his tweets. I have done a speed read to catch up and my thoughts are MD has been very silly and not taken this ET seriously.

I sent a few carrots Nick's way as well.

I really appreciate him coming all the way over here to (soggy) Norn Iron to cover this tribunal, especially when the Tribunal refused to allow livestreaming and Tribunal Tweets to cover it.

Ooh, I’d not realised. So they got an actual investigative journalist (and the hero of the post office scandal, no less) instead of mere citizen volunteers. I’d say that’s worked out well.

He's in fact not associated with Tribunal Tweets; he's an independent investigative journalist, and his tweets appear under his own account and name.

I have popped a few plants on Nick's blog site. He's putting a lot of time into this and it is good to have someone like him taking such an interest. Also thanks to @MyrtleLion and other knowledgeable commentators on here.

NC: "Dangerous opinions" is in the email.

Had to go back and check, but by jove she's right (course she is).

I may have nightmares tonight about being cross-examined by NC.

Yes, sorry, I meant indirectly in building the arguments not directly in the legal process.

But I think it has become common parlance drawn from 1984 in general. I mean commonly understood to be referencing that. I don't think folk would generally be tested on actual quotes from a novel...😉

Yes, that’s what I said.

I misunderstood your "they" in "So they got an actual investigative journalist (and the hero of the post office scandal, no less) instead of mere citizen volunteers"

My apologies.

But Naomi - what you don’t understand is that Michelle was VERY VERY BUSY and DOING THREE PEOPLES JOBS and she had so many plans to ERECT HER BIG SCREEN - it was so big it needed 37 PAGES and £2000 for erections.

So the fact Marks treasured partner organisations wouldn’t know BFF from Adam is neither here nor there.

He thinking what a bloody shower of arty farty wans I got here. And I’m not getting the JK big bucks off these wans. Oh well. It’ll be over in a week.

And all that faffing around this morning with photocopying multiple copies of Michelle’s wad of pish. At least I have an erection plan if ever I find £2000 to erect the big big expensive screen. Maybe for my big birthday.

She has been watching movies for 30 years. So many films, so many screenings, so many busy busy times. What you fail to understand is Michelle is single handing protecting both the arts and standing by her trans. She has no time for literature. If only it had been made into a movie???

She should try going freelance.
She'd to get up earlier to read all 37 pages and work out to erect her bigly screen in her own time.
That'd learn her.

Her “dead on” comment reminds me of Upton when the judge said he needed a bit of time to finish writing and Upton casually said, “go for it“. Similar flippant on-the-right-side-of-history self confidence.

Total word waffle that HE thinks makes him look reasonable. Ridiculous man.

is there any indication ever given in advance of outcomes, eg I know the legal teams might get a heads up, but do the public ever get told, outcome next week etc?

@YouCantProveIt What you fail to understand is Michelle is single handing protecting both the arts and standing by her trans

I sung that last bit to the tune of Tammy Wynette's classic. 😂