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

Donated. Hope you make the target.

Question: What was the single piece of information that made you go from #BeKind over the edge to the dark side? For me, it was realising that 90-95% of transwomen don't have any surgery, nor they want that. Then I asked myself, why not...

Funnily enough the seeds I ordered turned up with a random addition of carrots. If I plant them the slugs will just eat them all. Dropped the odd carrot in the pot.

Contrary to the oft repeated TRA mantra of if you knew a trans person you'd change your mind it was a young relative stating they were trans that peaked me. I'd not thought about it much until then but my reaction to something new is to research the facts. And if you look at this rationally then of course you are horrified at what has been done to children, especially autistic children.

I've been told "you must support a relative " - and my response was that i wouldn't support a child to put their hand in a flame so I wont support them in something that is damaging. Their parents fell for the whole "suicide risk" line and it was being pushed at them but medical professionals at the time. I will never forgive the NHS for going along with this..

For me, it was Rachel McKinnon next to two women, placed next to two women, placed "second" and "third" next to they. More than a head shorter.

That caused me to go down a rabbit hole of WTF!?!! What?! And that too? None of this is right!

Be kind? Why? What have these cheating, abusive blokes done to deserve it?

A devout follower of the Omnicause lectured me about why I was wrong about everything. Having the whole list of right think dumped on me in one go was actually quite helpful as I can remember thinking 'WTF is all this?' and I think the whole package sounds madder than when it is fed to you in tiny amounts.

My moment was coming across the feminism board here on MN after I found myself nodding along to JKRowling's and Sharron Davies' tweets and media articles. I am forever grateful to the knowledgeable posters on here for providing information when stuff I was being told by friends/family just felt wierd; 'support our friend' blah blah.

Man Friday caught my attention, discussed on here. I was radicalised by Mumsnet.

I would read the Active topics on the app and got fired up by posts from Datun in particular. Then I realised I could save the topic as a favourite and read everything (not very bright). Radicalisation complete.

Oh and Yaniv and the ball waxing. A brave soul tweeted live from court in spite of mammoth efforts to keep the whole unsavoury episode under very tight wraps.

For me it started with Jordan Peterson's opposition to Bill C-16. In the spirit of fair play I listened to the opposite POV and realised that it didn't even pretend to be an intellectual argument. However, I thought it was just north american craziness. Then we had a teenager speak at a training day where I worked. She explained how she was going to grow a penis on her arm, but most of her speech was about how awful her relationship with her mother was. I thought surely someone is going to help her resolve that relationship before she undergoes life-altering surgery. Started digging and realised the whole medical establishment would affirm her, not help her.

Bump!

The on-going Fife case is in Scotland which is a different jurisdiction to English Employment Tribunals. My case might still end up being the first one in England, depending on court dates.

I'm still in need of some turnips at the allotment site, please search Faye Russell-Caldicott at CrowdJustice.com, MN doesn't allow links. Sharing would be hugely appreciated even if you can't support this time. I've got a prel hearing in Feb so need to cover costs of that very soon.

I've been wondering, FayeRC, why your allotment hasn't been growing as well as some others (I've planted there), and I'm guessing that people are less willing to donate because you need anonymity (and haven't yet got it). I think it may be both parts though. It's unclear to us whether anonymity is likely to be granted, and you've said that if it isn't you won't go on with the case; so if it isn't, then people are, in effect, donating to some other case without control over which. Even if it is: as we have seen repeatedly, these hearings are incredibly stressful, and you're telling us you're someone who will find it particularly hard to stand that stress, and you're not telling us anything much else about yourself. Watching what SP is going through, can you tell us you can do that? I know I couldn't, and I don't have documented mental health issues. I'm sorry, but I think probably most people here who are willing to donate now know about your case and are likely not donating, for now, because there are so many good causes and one can't donate to them all but has to pick those most likely to have effect. Maybe it will pick up if you do manage to get to the next hearing and have anonymity granted.

Sorry if it's tactless of me to write this: tact is admittedly not a strong point of mine. You sound as though you have been wondering why it's not going better, though, and I thought it might be useful to address that head on.

In any case, maybe this prompts a flood of people saying "no no, I just hadn't gardened because I didn't know about the case" in which case all good :-)

I think you make valid points @fanofBen. It had occurred to me too that, in giving to Faye, it might end up elsewhere over which I have no control. But we often have this kind of issue & issues of uncertainty, for instance when a case has got a lot of publicity and raises the money quickly (due to our fury) but then doesn't get to court, or not very far along at least. Where does that money go?

But I think we have to have faith here. If people like Faye don't take action, what's it going to be like for our daughters?

I just can't understand how any employer can take the stance of so many NHS trusts/boards on this issue. I'm struggling to see how the law is with them.

These are good points. There are a lot of cases and not all the crowdfunders do get large amounts of money. For someone who needs anonymity it's hard to keep a high profile. Twitter support from someone who has a high public profile can make a big difference!

but then doesn't get to court, or not very far along at least. Where does that money go?

@Rightsraptor Some of it still goes on legal costs for preparing the case. Then it depends on the platform but e.g. on Crowdjustice any leftover money goes to another case which the person who originated the case nominates. So donations aren't wasted, win or lose.

I will be planting my February seeds shortly, cheered by IamSarah getting her court date at long last.

Yes, I shall also be sowing some seeds very shortly.

I do get that there are always legal costs, even if a case is settled or whatever very early on. Nothing in the legal world is cheap and I certainly don't expect people to work for peanuts.

Bump

Re the anonymity issue...

Yes, this may be affecting the confidence of donors. My view is that the legal team is not anonymous - and I have full confidence in this legal team in doing the right thing. (And presumably any funds not used will go to another woman facing tribunal costs related to gender critical beliefs in the workplace 🙂)

I suspect the issue is more that in trying to maintain anonymity, Faye is limited in how much personality she feels she can display on social media, including on MN. Part of what made eg Jo Phoenix very successful at crowdfunding was the extent to which she was able to interact with people and respond very personally. That is not possible for someone who needs to remain anonymous.

The current hearing in Fife is making it clear why some women will prefer to be anonymous, and some may not be able to proceed without that anonymity. I can't imagine having a sexual assault history, unrelated to my employment, picked over in an ET. And yet - as I think most of us understand too well - it is this history of sexual assault, which so many of us share, which makes this issue of being forced to undress in front of male people (however they see themselves) so important.

Anyway - good luck, Faye. I hope that your legal team, when they have a bit of time, are able to share your crowdfunder as well as they have a lot of reach on social media 🙂

More seeds planted.

I would donate more if it wasnt for the anonymity issue - but the case for anonymity needs to be made so I have donated to help make that case. I think it's useful for the court to be reminded of the threats women receive if they are openly gender critical and that there have been assaults.

If anonymity is granted I'll be putting more in the pot.

I’ll handle any roasting under cross examination just fine. I’ve seen cross examination videos and have read court papers in the past so I know what to expect. It’ll be ugly, but that’s fine by me. I enjoy a good intellectual fight anyway and loved being part of a debate society when younger, so I probably have the right “type” of a personality for this. The legal team will prep me.

When I set on this journey it felt important to be open about the anonymity aspect. I do have a good case for it because it’s related to a historic sexual assault which weighs a lot, and often victims have an automatic right to anonymity. I knew anonymity would be an issue to some potential donors. Sarah Summers campaigns under a pseudonym against the rape crisis centre in Brighton so it’s not necessarily a hindrance to crowdfunding.

I feel quite confident I’ll reach the required amount for the second preliminary hearing. I’m experienced in crowdfunding for charity in another context and know the peaks and troughs of that. None of the troughs have been surprises to me. I’ve made a conscious decision a few times not to campaign for a couple of weeks. I knew January would be a dry month because we just had Christmas. I only campaign for what I need and not extra in advance, although any extra will go to another GC case. This has been a Mumsnet and X campaign so far, and I’ve not expanded to other platforms or media yet, on purpose. I very much want to be mindful of my employer, too, as I’m intending to continue working for the respondent in the future, too. I like my job.

I have burnt some thousands of pounds of my own money on this at the very beginning but there’s only so much I can spend. At least your contributions go to two very talented and admirable female lawyers who have a good track record in GC issues.

Thank you for your patient and continued support, we will get there.

Bump.

Just received a message of some good news. The Respondent has confirmed that it is not contesting disability (PTSD), meaning both parties agree that I have it, and the issue does not need to be determined by the Tribunal. That is a massive weight off my shoulders really.

Courgettes needed at the allotment site, as the Fife case is in a different jurisdiction (Scotland), and I don't think Darlington case has progressed as far as mine (both England).

I am glad you have had some good news Faye. I will see what extra I can get from the garden this month.

That's a good start. Anyone want to plant some kale?

My February planting done.