The chair of SEEN is being sued.

[PriOn1]

We can’t post Crowdfunder links here, but there is now a Crowdfunder entitled “Chair of SEEN sued for saying 'only women menstruate'by Elspeth Duemmer Wrigley”

Text from website:

Who are you?
I'm Elspeth Duemmer Wrigley. I work for an arms-length body to a government department (part of the Civil Service) and love my job. I'm also gender critical, and chair of a governmental department SEEN (Sex Equality and Equity Network). SEEN represents those who are gender critical in our workplace.
What can you tell us?
The way I describe the case is restrained by my situation. I am writing this in a personal capacity, but am still employed and must comply with my employer's code of conduct and the Nolan Principles of Public Life. This places certain restrictions on me.
I’ve given as much information as I can, but I hope that what I set out below is sufficient to understand what’s going on.
So what happened?
I work for an arms-length body to the main government department. The case has been brought by a claimant who is an employee of another arms-length body. The claimant is taking their own employer, the government department and me to court.
Among other matters, the claimant is suing the government department for allowing our departmental SEEN network to exist (on the basis that the existence of the network has the effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and/or offensive environment for the claimant).
What is the SEEN network?
SEEN (the Sex Equality and Equity Network) is an official cross-governmental staff network. We also have networks in three government departments (including the one being taken to court). SEEN is known as the gender critical network and is the only civil service network that clearly treats sex and sexual orientation as concepts defined in the Equality Act, which should never be conflated with or replaced by ‘gender identity’.

So far as I understand the case - or what’s left of it - it’s a stupid, time- and resource-wasting stunt.

I would hope that the ET sees this as a rare case where costs should be awarded, to the defendants.

Costs orders are the most potent weapon available to the courts and tribunals to dissuade mischievous litigants (short of restraint orders and contempt proceedings). They really should be used more often in the ET.

Who is the claimant?

EDW's Co-Chair of SEEN, Andreas Mueller, is also being sued (again). It seems to be part of a new strategy.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5139811-public-servant-sued-for-saying-sex-is-binary

Bumping as more gardening required in the next 11 days

Hopefully it will get a boost after pay day. Eleanor Francis is still way off her target too.

Is anybody able to clarify something? Are the views of these two people in any way part of their job role?

Any government policy needs an equalities assessment. So it’s incumbent upon anyone involved in policy development and implementation to be able to properly identify protected characteristics. This is severely hampered if we’re not able to accurately identify males and females, or call out when they are misidentified. Most civil servants are involved in either developing or implementing policy in some way.

Civil Servants are required to be impartial and implement the policies of the government. For example there will have been CS who voted to remain who ended up working on the Brexit agreement. Potentially disabled employees may work on DWP policies and their application, such as eligibility for PIP etc., they may personally not agree with the policy but will be professional and impartial.

Following Forstater, being GC is a protected belief, just like Christian’s, Muslims, Jews etc. they are entitled to their belief but must remain impartial in their day to day work.

As @RunsWithDinosaurs says under the EA2010 Civil Servants are required to adhere to the Public Sector Equality Duty which means the impact of all policies need to be considered against the nine protected characteristics to ensure they remove or reduce any potential discrimination.

A strategy to exhaust our supplies of seeds and chicken manure fertiliser? But I thought all these cases were bankrolled by US fundamentalist Christians and Tea Party Republicans?

Sadly, it seems like a case of, short arms, deep pockets, for those guys.

Yikes.

The Civil Service is supposed to give unbiased advice to ministers. You may hold any views you want in your private life but your official duty is to give impartial advice. Unfortunately various governments have made the civil service more political, https://consoc.org.uk/politicisiation-of-the-civil-service-hlcc-report/

There's a new update from Elspeth on her funding page. Looks like the claimant has lost their application for anonymity.

Good.

Excellent!

It must be rough on people who share a name that's the same as that of an anime character.

And, I don't know how but I hope that this makes the overall case more straightforward.

How unfortunate. No doubt this will be met with claims of genocide or some such.

Good news. It will mean more sunlight on just what is happening.

Odd how often that happens isn't it. What is it about these sexualised drawings of young women in very short skirts in stockings and suspenders that appeal to the more aggressive type of middle aged male TRA. Huh. Guess we'll just never know.

If you google that name, nothing relevant seems to come up. Oddly.

It must be rough on people who share a name that's the same as that of an anime character.

It's the Alexas of this world I feel sorry for.

I've just read the information on the Crowdjustice page. Good gracious. I thought the Life of Brian was supposed to be a parody. The objection to "only women menstruate" reminds me strongly of the "you don't have a womb" sketch.

I notice that Ms Tempest’s barrister is the one and only RMW, MN’s very own scolder.

Anyway, November 2025 is in the diary.

Where's the foetus going to gestate? In a box?

We can look forward to plenty of sunlight

Unfortunately for Ms Tempest, RMW is not very good at their job and has such a ridiculously biased interpretation of the law that it’s laughable.