Employment Tribunal Case to Protect Single-Sex Facilities at Work

[FayeRC]

Dear Mumsnet Members,

I have issued an employment tribunal complaint against NHS England to protect single-sex facilities at work.

A preliminary hearing will be held in early October 2024. I would be very grateful for some urgent gardening support at CrowdJustice. I won't add a link here as it is against Mumsnet rules.

It would be interesting to hear other people's views on legislation around single-sex facilities at WORK. However, I won't be commenting much on this public forum whilst the case is on-going.

Yours faithfully,
Faye Russell-Caldicott / FayeRC

Thanks Faye. Could you give us some pointers on words to use that might help us get there with a Google search?

'Protect Single-Sex Facilities at Work' or by my name (which is a pseudonym).

I will pm you

CJ text.

Please support my employment tribunal case to protect single-sex facilities at work
I have issued an employment tribunal complaint against NHS England for indirect discrimination on the basis of sex (women), religion (Islam), philosophical belief (gender critical) and disability (PTSD) for having a policy in place which effectively renders the supposed single-sex toilet, changing room and showering facilities as mixed-sex.
According to NHSE’s trans staff policy, transwomen (born males) can use female facilities in addition to male and gender neutral facilities. Which means that NHSE expects women to share female facilities with biological males. If a woman is not happy with that, she is directed to use the gender neutral toilets, and transwomen (males) can continue using the female facilities. The policy is blatantly discriminatory against women, especially in those office bases where the showers are open plan.
Simultaneously, my claim also includes claims of direct discrimination, harassment and victimisation related to my philosophical belief (gender-critical).
This is one of the first cases in England where a court will be asked to decide whether such a trans staff policy is discriminatory against employees with other protected characteristics. There has been no Equality Impact Assessment conducted in relation to the policy. When developing the policy, NHSE did not thoroughly consider the needs of women or the implications of trauma and religion, or the normal and common boundary a female member of staff might assert that she just simply does not want to shower in direct line of sight with a biological male.
The response from NHSE has been extremely disappointing. I have been told that all staff members are expected to follow the policy. I have been told that NHSE is already offering single-sex female facilities, which can be used both by “those born female, and those who identify as female.” Their rationale for not excluding transwomen from women’s facilities is that “even if there would only be one transwoman excluded from the female facilities, we would consider that unjustifiable unlawful discrimination.” In its response, NHSE effectively denies the relevance of biological sex as the basis for single-sex spaces.
My claim is that the current staff policy is discriminatory on the basis of sex, religion, belief and disability and the facilities should be made female-only by excluding males.
I will be applying for full anonymity, which will be essential for me to take the case forward, given my personal circumstances. If my application for anonymity is not accepted at the preliminary hearing, I will pass all remaining donations to another case of my choice which seeks to secure women’s single-sex facilities or services.…
Like with all court cases, there is a risk of losing. This crowdfunding pays for my legal fees. I will not be benefitting financially from the crowdfunding because the money raised will go directly to my legal team’s client account. Any compensation from the employer is likely to be modest. I am pursuing this case because women’s rights to safe spaces, safeguarding and consent should not be overridden.
Yours faithfully,
Faye Russell-Caldicott

I found it easily when I googled 'Crowd Justice Protect Single-Sex Facilities at Work'.

I work in HR, and have to use the accessible toilet as the office we use (one day a week if that) only has that or mixed sex toilets. Unfortunately due to being sexually assaulted in the toilet by two males when I was a teenager, men in the toilets is a very genuine trigger for me, and I say that as someone with diagnosed PTSD and years of reasonably successful therapy.

I will happily dig for you.

As soon as toilets become mixed sex they become enclosed and private in their design. The floor-to door gaps disappear.

If there is anyone who has collapsed inside (people who have been spiked, people with heart conditions, strokes, diabetes, epilepsy, frailty, fever) it will not be noticed. So this is discrimination against the disabled (epilepsy is classed as a disability) and age (older people more risk of falls/collapse) and sex (females more likely to be spiked in a public place). Toilet cubicles become unsafe.

Because it is known people collapse in toilets (obviously it is where people head if they feel ill), it is known bodies stop the door opening. Therefore this type of enclosed toilet has to have a way of unlocking from the outside and opening outwards.

This creates unseen spaces that can be accessed easily from outside. So ideal for a man to hide in the cubicle next door, then open the cubicle that an unsuspecting person is in. And no chance of being witnessed by someone else entering the toilet area. This is discrimination against women and girls as they are more likely to be victims of sexual violence.

There are many recent examples of this happening in schools and nightclubs.

Will definitely garden for this.

Hi Faye, I will be gardening for you. What legal support will you have? I can see the name of your solicitors on h crowdjustice , have you also got a good barrister lined up? Best of luck

@FayeRC Just a quick note to say I hope you are successful- it's awful you have to do this. And apart from the privacy and safety issues @Keeptoiletssafe raises above, in my experience mixed sex loos are very stressful, often vile due to the urine everywhere (why do men do this?), as women have to use the seats unlike males, and the fact you have to check for hidden cameras due to voyeurism and you never know if you're safe!

Sadly there is lots of evidence of abuse of women/girls and voyeurism by men who say they are trans in women's toilets, changing rooms etc.
https://transcrimeuk.com/
Elsewhere on mumsnet a poster has uploaded a link to the official census stats and MoJ information about sex offending, demonstrating that men who say they are trans are far more likely than other men to be sex offenders( 1 in 585 of men who say they are trans in prison for sex offending!) , and their victims are nearly always women and girls. Added to this, the Equality Act is supposed to protect women's privacy, dignity and safety from men when undressed and vulnerable. It's been a long term campaign by trans groups to remove these human rights from women/ girls and exclude women (who won't consent/ pretend men are women) from public spaces and workplaces.
womansplaceuk.org/2018/06/25/references-to-removal-of-single-sex-exemptions/

I recall some Police Forces introduced trans policies like this but then had to withdraw them last year as they were so discriminatory against women. I think Avon and Somerset was one - Sex Matters or WRN may have more information and support. Wes Streeting, Labour's Health Minister, said he was horrified this was happening in the NHS when a group of nurses complained.
https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/policies-and-guidance/nurses-threaten-to-sue-trust-over-behaviour-of-trans-colleague-29-05-2024/

Men who say they are trans should have the option of a stand alone 'gender neutral' option or use the facilities provided for their sex, so everyone can access facilities. If he isn't dodgy, he would respect female boundaries, consent and privacy. The fact trans lobby groups campaign to end female only spaces, instead of for an additional 3rd 'gender neutral' option for their followers, tells you all you need to know about their respect for the human rights of women and girls! So thank you on behalf of women everywhere affected by these issues in the workplace.

Their rationale for not excluding transwomen from women’s facilities is that “even if there would only be one transwoman excluded from the female facilities, we would consider that unjustifiable unlawful discrimination.”

They don't understand the law then, do they? The Equality Act does not say that people with the PC of gender reassignment have to be treated as if they were the opposite sex; it says they can't be treated less favourably than a person who doesn't have the PC. The comparator for a TW is a man, therefore it's not unlawful discrimination. Let's have a guess where NHSE got their 'equality' training, shall we?

Hi all,

thank you for taking time to reply, some interesting thoughts on here.

I only have a few days to pile up a heap of carrots, peas and cabbages for my initial target, otherwise the case isn't going anywhere. I have been paying out of my own pocket up to this point but currently on mat leave too which has blown a hole in my regular income.

We need to start prepping for the preliminary hearing v soon, and funds would need to be paid before that.

The good thing is I'm broadly familiar with pretty much everything said in here, so that does give me more confidence. The details are helpful, thank you.

I typically make donations just after payday, so dont really have anything left to give. but I'll scrape around the shed to see if I can magic a few seeds. Still it runs just long enough to donate at the end of the month.

You want to try and tweet someone with a lot of supportive followers and if anyone here can make a post on ovarit that could be useful.

@BraveFacesEveryone I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you. I'm never quite sure how much it is possible to recover from PTSD but I'm glad you've found therapy helpful.

@fernsandlilies I have a very good barrister lined up but will let you all know on Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you to those who have already donated xx

🥕

I think this is a very useful legal challenge.

I'm waiting for my latest travel expenses to clear so I can contribute when that happens.

There is a strong need for this and the nurses' action to proceed to highlight the need for a systemic improvement and policy on this matter rather than be addressed in a piecemeal fashion.

Good luck, Faye. I've gardened and shared on WhatsApp. Very important case concerning one of the largest employers in the world.

Good luck Faye.

I think single sex toilets provision is a basic right. By all means provide unisex toilets in addition, but it's such a backwards step to put some women ( those who've experienced past trauma, or who follow orthodox religion) back on the urinal leash to satisfy a minority.

I'm dying to know though... What amazing breakthroughs have NHSE made with their safety culture and arrangements which have resulted in single sex toilets being obsolete? They really should share their impact and risk assessments showing how the risk of male violence has been eliminated 😒

I'll be gardening for this x

https://www.irwinmitchell.com/news-and-insights/expert-comment/post/102j048/failure-to-provide-a-toilet-for-the-exclusive-use-of-women-sex-discrimination

Planted a few seeds.

Also planted a few autumn seeds.
If you are on Twitter, it may be worth asking SEEN in Health to promote.
Best of luck!

I wish you all the luck in the world. NHSE is a captured organisation, as demonstrated by the SLT introducing themselves in staff briefing as "Peter and I use the pronouns he/him". Fuck off Peter, no one thinks you are a woman. Even a blind person can see you are a man.

I note that they seem to have removed the Stonewall logo from their job adverts, does anyone know if they are still members, I've tried to find out but can't see.

I'll garden for you on payday

Weirdly just seen this online, someone asked this exact question yesterday! www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/health_education_england_members