NHS Fife tries to silence nurse - Sandie Peggie vs NHS Fife Health Board and Dr Beth Upton - thread #50

[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 February 2025 and was expected to last 2 weeks. However, after 2 weeks it was not complete and it adjourned part-heard. It resumed on 16 July and the last day of evidence was 29 July 2025. It will resume again over 1 to 2 September for closing submissions.

The hearing commenced with Sandie Peggie giving evidence. Dr Beth Upton gave evidence from Thursday 6 February to Wednesday 12 February 2025. Sandie Peggie returned to give more evidence on 29 July 2025.

Access to view the second part of the hearing remotely was obtainable by sending an email request to [email protected] by 5pm on Wednesday 9 July. Detailed instructions were provided here:

drive.google.com/file/d/16-9POEZ7yHWUr6EmbfquJZO18Gv78bSm/view

The hearing is being live tweeted by x.com/tribunaltweets and there's additional information here: tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/peggie-vs-fife-health-board-and-dr-005 and tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/peggie-vs-fife-health-board-and-dr-bd6. 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.ph/WSSjg.

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

Links to previous threads #1 to #40 can be found in this thread: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379717-sandie-peggie-list-of-threads-covering-employment-tribunal-and-afterwards

Thread 41: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379334-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-41 24 July 2025 to 25 July 2025
Thread 42: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379820-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-42 25 July 2025 to 25 July 2025
Thread 43: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379979-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-43 25 July 2025 to 27 July 2025
Thread 44: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5380196-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-44 25 July 2025 to 28 July 2025
Thread 45: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5381518-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-45 28 July 2025 to 28 July 2025
Thread 46: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5381640-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-46 28 July 2025 to 29 July 2025
Thread 47: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5382102-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-47 29 July 2025 to 29 July 2025
Thread 48: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5382317-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-48 29 July 2025 to 31 July 2025
Thread 49: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5383443-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-49 31 July 2025 to 8 August 2025

‘A spokeswoman for NHS Fife’ - I wonder how they knew 🤪

Just wrote and deleted a post on my organisation's guidance (very little), as I'm afraid it might be outing. But I will say that I've just seen some comments on said "guidance" which suggest that some at least within our organisation are aware of the issues. Good to know!

It's a another world out there now. I retired about three years ago, and for a few years before that I was WFH. Previously forty years in a mostly office-based STEM environment. I never came across a DEI dept or policy. Now it seems like almost any business of any size, public sector or private, has one.

I've certainly noticed the speed in which it's taken off at our work in the past few years. Someone else on a different thread posted about my work and where the head of EDI used to work and it therefore has come as no surprise once I learned that.

Small steps for me, I'm not in a position to go all out with pushing back against it, but I'll keep trying.

There is quite a reliance amount young people on the idea that badges and signs can convey all sorts of complicated interpersonal things, like niceness and psychological safety. I have a (straight, white, male) colleague who openly tells people he wears a rainbow lanyard to let people know he’s a “safe space” for anyone to come to with their problems.

The fact that that approach could be taken advantage of by dodgy characters doesn’t seem to cross his mind. It’s just “Team Nice,” and then he gets to feel like he’s doing something worthwhile even if no one has ever approached him for help.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/politics/5313226/sandie-peggie-nhs-fife-trans-tribunal-judge/

More from the Courier.

Personally I was nervy about an NHS therapist who wore a rainbow lanyard and pronouns in her email. It indicated a performative approach to their work. Long story short, ended up correct.

Many of these people weren't interested when gay rights were a controversial issue. It's virtue signalling, often.

Of course you need therapists who can support with i.e. particular challenges of lesbians and gays men. These days I hope that's all of them, though fine to advertise as an area.

@Justme56do you have an archive link for that? Or an outline of what it says?

Separate question. From those experienced, do you think the submissions will be comprehensible without being able to see the written documents? I might request access, if it's a verbal summary of arguments.

https://x.com/ognittis37/status/1958128318126895422?t=8rMUsh12Ud6IDmpYncFYJQ&s=19

The submissions will be about the law - so Naomi's will probably be mostly comprehensible, although without the bundle it was sometimes difficult to follow every nuance. However Jane Russell's arguments are probably going to be pretty unbelievable with or without the documents.

I'm disturbed by the lack of capitalisation of 'equality act' throughout this article!

News of another intervention - well done, Not All Gays Ireland.

https://x.com/NotAllGays/status/1958211449693602084

https://www.notallgays.org/rule-36-application-sandie-peggie-tribunal

Well IANAL, but that intervention seems to be making some very good points about the dishonest and prejudicial arguments made by Jane Russell.

Absolutely correct about breaching Nicole's article 8 rights (the right to private and family life). Disgraceful from Jane Russell.

They sound like a great bunch of lads.

I was uncomfortable with the way Nicole was dragged into this mess by JR. SO pleased to see someone calling the defence out on this.

Following on from NC's comments on the Bar Standards Board dismissing complaints against her I wondered if anyone has complained about JR? I gather anyone can do so.

It was predictable that someone would do this in relation to NC, and equally predictable that they'd be wasting their time. Unlike JR, NC is a consummate professional. And the disparity between the two sides' counsel was never more obvious than when it came to mudslinging.

On the other note, kudos to Not All Gays Ireland! The forced teaming is beginning to break down in more quarters than merely the LGBA, and bringing SP's daughter into the mix was completely inexcusable. Will there now be a claim that all LGB people's right to self-determination and self-organisation is exclusively the work of 'hate groups?'

Operation let them speak, indeed.

Go guys thanks for that.

Disgraceful from Jane Russell

That was a particularly low blow. I couldn’t help but think what a b* dragging in a mother’s concerns to make her out to be a hateful person. The so-called friend was worse in offering that personal information.

it's so rife in universities not going away anytime soon either. Ramping up in fact as trans rights so under threat. This will all feed into increasing support for Reform. Sigh.

Yes, and so what if she was initially shocked or upset about it? Many parents over the years have felt the same - it doesn't automatically make them bigots, they often just need time to come to terms with something they hadn't considered and weren't expecting. Sandie clearly soon came to terms with it and has retained a close relationship with her daughter, which is to her credit. If she was leading some kind of Parents Against Gays campaign it would be another matter.

DrBlackbird
Ramping up in fact as trans rights so under threat.

I have a kind of feeling that we really ought to stop talking about this as "trans rights" even in passing or sarcastically, and start referring to it as "trans privileges." So that sentence would read "Ramping up in fact as trans privileges so under threat. "

Privilege is what they have been enjoying, after all. And they are screaming their heads off not about losing rights, which they haven't done, but about no longer getting privileged above others.

Any you know what even if she was leading an anti gay campaign she still shouldn't need to strip off infront of a bloke.

But no it was totally unfair for her DD to be dragged into it.

What sort of friend would even divulge that information.
Jesus, its up there who needs enemies with friends like that.

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/scandal-hit-nhs-fife-face-35769543?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar
More from the shit showthat is NHS Fife

Good grief, the whole organisation is just rotten to the core. NHS Fife doesn't need anyone else to paint them in a bad light they have done that entirely by their own actions and inactions.