NHS Fife tries to silence nurse - Sandie Peggie vs NHS Fife Health Board and Dr Beth Upton - thread #6

[nauticant]

Sandie Peggie, a nurse at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy (VH), has brought claims in the employment tribunal against her employer; Fife Health Board (the Board) and another employee, Dr B Upton. Ms Peggie’s claims are of sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination and victimisation. Dr Upton claims to be a transwoman, that is observed as male at birth but asserting a female gender identity.

The Employment Tribunal hearing started on Monday 3 January 2025 and is expected to continue for 2 weeks. The hearing commenced with Sandie Peggie giving evidence. Dr Beth Upton started giving evidence on 6 February.

Access to view the hearing remotely can be obtained by sending an email request to [email protected] headed Public Access Request (Peggie v Fife Health Board) 4104864/2024 and requesting access.

The hearing is being live tweeted by https://x.com/tribunaltweets and there's additional information here: https://tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/peggie-vs-fife-health-board-and-dr. This also has threadreaderapp archives of live-tweeting of the sessions of the hearing for those who can't follow on Twitter, for example: archive.is/xkSxy.

An alternative to Twitter is to use Nitter: https://nitter.poast.org/tribunaltweets

Thread 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5186317-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse

Thread 2: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5267591-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-thread-2

Thread 3: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5268347-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-3

Thread 4: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5268942-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-4

Thread 5: www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5269149-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-5

Crikey this escalated fast didn't it?

Unfortunately, in my NHS trust (elsewhere in Scotland) cost cutting has led to an unannounced and arbitrary reduction in size of outlook email capacity a few months back - with associated bulk deleting of old emails.

I would be concerned that something similar might mean that the missing documents and email chains could actually be unrecoverable... And that there is plausible deniability about why the emails were not provided in initial disclosure searches.

Although actually now I think about it, doctors were mysteriously spared in the storage capacity cut.

a quick lunch hour peak

Just the ticket! Very bracing! And JR patronising the judge will definitely do the trick.

JR - 'second issue said to be 'shrouded in mystery' - email from Jacquiline Hertz of HR - 20th Dec 2024. '

Judge -' we haven't seen this? '

JR -' sent to Ann Hamilton - discussed checklist etc, Esther will be in touch to establish investigation team etc'

'Cant' have been a mystery that was only discovered this week, there we have it that Esther was involved.'

Placemarking - I'm only halfway through the last thread mind. Thanks for your updates.

She hasn't even started on questioning him yet!!

No she has a very patronising tone in all the tribunals I have seen.

Judge seems to be having none of this...

Judge and JR discussing whether email was suggesting investigation team was about investigation not suspension.

[I'm a bit lost tbh]

So is NC still questioning DU this afternoon? I am offline for a few hours so will have to catch up after. Thanks for the new thread, updates and explanations

This is not an ideal day to have a ton of work to do and two naughty kittens wreaking havoc around me. Thankyou everyone for the updates in the comments.

Judge is sounding very much "are you having a laugh?"

JR - this can only be an investigation into an investigation, you can’t have an investigation into a suspension

(yeah I don’t know what she meant either!)

JR's really struggling here, isn't she?

JR grasping at straws, judge not convinced

I'm not watching the case but the judge's reported comments here show that he agrees there has been material non-disclosure. This is very bad for the defendants. The fact NC is going for a more specific order for disclosure suggests that, rather than winning the case on the basis of non-disclosure, she wants to air the defendant's dirty washing in public.

Edited to correct whose dirty washing should be aired!

JR - 'it was suggested that we had somehow covered up the fact that Esther was involved'

Judge - it says that Esther will be involved

JR - She only collected Dr Upton's statement

I feel the judge really isn’t buying what you’re selling, JR.

Unfortunately we can't post pics due to someone posting child abuse images earlier this week. Otherwise a pic would be very welcome at this point.

NImumconfused:
Given the way this case has been reported so far in the media, it'll be fascinating to see how today's activity is presented!

nauticant:
The tribunal panel continued to hear about Mrs Peggie being unkind to Dr Upton.

...but she'll get away with it due to NHS incompetence in complying with court orders - even though Mrs Peggie was really mean and unkind.

judge - this emails says that Esther will be involved to establish and investigation team, not that she is involved in the investigation
(JR is saying that NC team must have known Esther was involved in the investigation from this email)

Yes, but you need to document and communicate clear reasons for a suspension at the time, surely?

Judge - let's be clear - was there an investigation of any kind by Esther

JR - 1st respondent's position is that ED gathered statement

Judge - was she involved in any extent in investigation

The first investigation doesn't identify as an investigation so you can't call it that

Placemarking. And thank you.

When is an investigation not an investigation?