https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/40/section/8
8Harassment.
(1)Every individual has a right to be free from harassment and, accordingly, a person must not pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another and—
(a)is intended to amount to harassment of that person; or
(b)occurs in circumstances where it would appear to a reasonable person that it would amount to harassment of that person.
[F1(1A)Subsection (1) is subject to section 8A.]
(2)An actual or apprehended breach of subsection (1) may be the subject of a claim in civil proceedings by the person who is or may be the victim of the course of conduct in question; and any such claim shall be known as an action of harassment.
(3)For the purposes of this section—
“conduct” includes speech;
“harassment” of a person includes causing the person alarm or distress; and
a course of conduct must involve conduct on at least two occasions.
(4)It shall be a defence to any action of harassment to show that the course of conduct complained of—
(a)was authorised by, under or by virtue of any enactment or rule of law;
(b)was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime; or
(c)was, in the particular circumstances, reasonable.
(5)In an action of harassment the court may, without prejudice to any other remedies which it may grant—
(a)award damages;
(b)grant—
(i)interdict or interim interdict;
(ii)if it is satisfied that it is appropriate for it to do so in order to protect the person from further harassment, an order, to be known as a “non-harassment order”, requiring the defender to refrain from such conduct in relation to the pursuer as may be specified in the order for such period (which includes an indeterminate period) as may be so specified,
but a person may not be subjected to the same prohibitions in an interdict or interim interdict and a non-harassment order at the same time.
(6)The damages which may be awarded in an action of harassment include damages for any anxiety caused by the harassment and any financial loss resulting from it.
(7)Without prejudice to any right to seek review of any interlocutor, a person against whom a non-harassment order has been made, or the person for whose protection the order was made, may apply to the court by which the order was made for revocation of or a variation of the order and, on any such application, the court may revoke the order or vary it in such manner as it considers appropriate.
Sandie was accused of harassing Upton. However we have three things that NC has sought to demonstrate here
- she acted within the law to uphold her rights
- that it was reasonable under the circumstances with which she was presented - remember there was no written policy, she'd gone to her line manager, she'd challenged as was per her right as a woman under the Equality Act. She was limited in her recourse avenues.
- Upton used authority and the NHS organisation to further his intimidation and harassment of Peggie.
Upton has admitted that there was no way she could acted any other way which he would consider reasonable. He tried to prevent her from complaining, when she refused to use the changing room at the same time as him (which she's legally allowed to in these circumstances) and then he was CC her in to group mails to intimidate her and prevent her from challenging him.
Malone has admitted there are such systematic flaws it was impossible for Sandie to uphold her rights or even advocate for herself without being punished for it. In deeming Sandie 'unprofessional' she shows clear bias and lack of understanding of proper procedures.