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

Michele covering all the bases there.

Board member Laurence McKeown was sharing WhatsApps that the trans activists who harassed Sara were to paraphrase more measured than she deserved in their complaints against her.

As a man who has been convicted of attempted murder he probably knows things can go further than abuse and harassment.

From Wikipedia

Laurence McKeown (born 1956) is an Irish author, playwright, screenwriter, and former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike.

In August 1976, McKeown was arrested and charged with causing a series of bomb explosions and the attempted murder of a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.[1][3] At his trial in April 1977, McKeown was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Maze Prison.[1][3] McKeown refused to recognise the courts.[4]

Mark Cousins a very activist friendly trans captured Board member sent emails and WhatsApp getting Sara removed from key parts of her job as an Inclusion Officer. He wanted her sidelined and shut down.

https://markcousins.cargo.site/about

He loves to say things about himself.

He raised concerns that she’d even tried to talk to him. Well as the sole employee who has an issue with the CEO - who else is there to raise concerns with?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg10dp8lyzo

BBC covering it in person

Is there a garden in need of carrots for this? I've googled but can't find anything.

I know the last garden was bulldozed because it said Sara was sacked when actually she resigned. But it sounds like she'd have a very solid case for constructive dismissal and if she wins this tribunal I hope she pursues it.

I think the JK Rowling fund has ponied up. Tho it did have a crowd funding page up at the start which was brought uo today where SD accused her of lying because she’d said she’d been suspended whereas she’d not actually been altho from evidence it looks like it is pretty much equivalent of suspension.

All funded by JK Rowling fund - which is why we have the Rolls Royce Naomi flying in to a very boring building in an office park in Belfast.

Who would have thought it!

For anyone interested in extra colour insights and photos of people with binders over their heads - Nick Wallis' daily Gender Blogs are worth a small donation to his page.

He will be consolidating all his tweets here:

https://genderblog.net/livetweets/sara-morrison-v-belfast-film-festival-tribunal-day-1/

I'm just bowled over that the BBC said this:

The rally in Belfast city centre was also addressed by Kellie-Jay Keen - a campaigner for women's rights.

Not anti trans campaigner! 🤯

Wow!

The reporter is Senior Reporter, Lyndsey Telford for the BBC. She covers stories across a range of subject and reports live on Spotlight. https://muckrack.com/lyndsey-telford/articles

More power to your elbow Lyndsey for reporting and getting the reporting accurate.

It looks as though people can submit stories, without having to run them past the LGBTQ panel.

There must be quite a few people at the BBC desperate to get their reports out there. They can't all be captured

It just shows quite how bad things must have been for all this change in reporting to have happened in days.

I think the trans desk are currently in a cupboard until they can figure out what to do with the.

i am certain i saw relish in the eyes of the news at 10 female reporter

If anyone hasn’t heard it there’s a SEEN in journalism podcast special about the BBC resignations

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-fear-no-favour-the-seen-in-journalism-podcast/id1840257603?i=1000736218919

Thanks @Prestissimo

Hoping to attend today, if the place isn't packed out by newly liberated BBC journalists. How full was the public gallery yesterday?

It’s a bit of a bummer that we can’t dial in.
A bit of moral support would be welcome, I’m sure.

Is public viewing always a no-no, in NI?

When I first asked, the reply was that they were considering it - not a flat no. But I think you always have to apply even for in-person so it's definitely not as open as England or Scotland, and I doubt they have many requests for dialing in usually.

There are two gallery rooms - only one was used. About 20 supporters and legal teams.

Rooms are small though….

They don’t seem set up for it at all. I don’t think it will get set up for this trial but we can keep asking in person.

The magnificent @MyrtleLion is going to be live sharing Nick Wallis’ tweets on here today.

I seem to be the first one here apart from the BFF team (and the woman with the massive camera outside getting lined up to film the door). Man on reception said it will be the main hearing room and 2 overspill rooms, but he's not sure whether it will be divided into press and non-press or mixed.

Interesting loos in the waiting area. Four single-occupancy (self contained with sink, opening to corridor) - 3 marked unisex and 1 marked women only; 1 unisex accessible. The women-only and the accessible both have a notice on the doors about the free provision of period products regs, the general unisex ones don't (and don't contain any period products).

Waiting room filling up. Almost all women.

From yesterday's evidence, Sara had her office keys removed and was told to work from home. She was removed from their social media, removed from the shared drive, and blocked from her email. How, exactly, was she meant to work?

Claimant's team also here. They and the respondents have separate waiting rooms off the main one.

Have a seat in the main room! Going offline now bit will try to take paper notes and report back later.