NHS Fife tries to silence nurse - Sandie Peggie vs NHS Fife Health Board and Dr Beth Upton - thread #51

[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 resumed 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 #50 can be found in this thread: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379717-sandie-peggie-list-of-threads-covering-employment-tribunal-and-afterwards

Thread 50: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5387893-nhs-fife-tries-to-silence-nurse-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-thread-50 7 August 2025 to 1 September 2025

From TT

amember of the medical staff a P**i (edited by MNHQ)Her racism bled into the workplace. It is wrong to call this a class issue. The two great social justice movements (Labour, unions) are class based. No witness beyond the C had anything bad to say about DU. The allegations about behaviour at another hospital were not even put to him.

It is clear that DU was universally praised. DU described by ED as a very gentle caring person. C agreed that DU was a gentle caring person on x-exam. KS evidence that DU was kind and compassionate person in all ways.

Of fuck off JR quiet dignity and grace, her virtues know no bounds.

I don't think I have ever heard such hyperbole in my life.

Haha after fighting for her full hour plus the 15 minute extra JR has nothing to say except kindness...kindness...kindness.

I don't think it works to identify misgenderings from what TT writes - their words aren't close enough to JR's for that to work.

from herald
10:56am
Ms Russell says that "with quiet dignity" Dr Upton observed evidence where she was compared to a torturer and was repeatedly misgendered.
Her life as a transgender person was dismissed as "mere cosplay".
This is not ordinary kindness from Ms Peggie, she says.

Claiments behaviour ought not to deserve protection of the Eqaulity Act.

Oh fuck off .

Fuck OFF JR nobody is owed kindness for the sake of being kind.

After making a big old fuss, JR has spent an hour saying be kind. Very, very slowly. I don't think Big Sond is fooled.

.

She's finished!

Break for 5 mins

Tfft

Ha! Big Sond noted there that was just 45 minutes.

At his previous hospital, quietly claimed that an aged patient with Alzheimer's mis-gendered him and a colleague did not protect him, with dignity

this is so frustrating.

time to crack out the big letters.

"[SP] was aggressive and confrontational" - in other words she was assertive, which is something people should not accept towards a trans person.

Hopefully the panel will remember that that is just not how the law works.

I'm a bit behind but, at the time, didn't we comment that LM's choice of the word "trans" rather than "transwoman" could mean she was changing with a biological female (non binary or transman)?

Haha J looked at NC as he said "Thank you... and that was helpfully about 45 mins"

5 min break

Break. So shortly we find out what this proposed amendment is... I'm guessing it's "just" the technical stuff about wanting to say it's not about her beliefs but about her objectionable manifestations of those beliefs, touched on yesterday? Not that Fife are folding, or something??

Hopefully this will mean that they have time to make a decsion on any amendments made.

Does JR have a personal spotlight to enhance her angelic attire?

Yes I think we did.

I think even at that time there was a purposeful obfuscation around the word trans.

It appealed to those who presumed that LM meant a trans woman, but also to people who are confused around the terminology that trans woman doesn't mean a trans identifying woman.

from herald
10:59am
Ms Russell said: "We should be able to expect kindness, thoughtfulness and respect from our nurses, particularly in professional settings.
"The confrontational way that the claimant approached Dr Upton has no place in dealing with somebody going through a transition process.
"The claimants behaviour... so unpleasantly, is behaviour that ought not to be given the protection of the Equality Act."
She asks the court to find Sandie Peggie's conduct as inappropriate, and that she went "too far".
All of Ms Peggie's claims should be dismissed, she says.
And with that her evidence concludes. Short break to follow.

From TT

No evidence to support that DU was smug. I asked you to observe, with quiet dignity, in which DU was compared with a torturer and misgendered and DU lived experience as a trans person dismissed as cosplay. There was not a lot of ordinary kindness taken by the C.

A few concluding remarks: kindness, thoughtfulness and respect are key values to the NHS. We should expect that nurses demonstrate all of these in prof settings. The confrontational way in which C approached and treated DU has no place in the dealings with someone going through a transition process. C's behaviour in how she appreached and dealt with DU does not deserve the protection of the EA.

We should recognise that persons come in all shapes and sizes and meet those with kindness rather than with aggression and confrontational.

I invite you to conclude that the prison comments went much to far and I invite you to dismiss all of the claims against both of the Rs.

J - thank you, that was helpfully close to 45 minutes. We will take a short break now. Court rises.