"Darlington Nurses" vs County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust Tribunal Thread 5

[ThreeWordHarpy]

Thread 1, 7-Oct to 23-Oct; pre-hearing discussion, KD (day 1 of evidence) and BH (day 2).
Thread 2, 23-Oct to 28-Oct; BH (day 2), CH, JP, MG (day 3&4), TH, SS, ST, LL (day 4), JS, AT (day 5)
Thread 3, 28-Oct to 29-Oct, AT (day 5&6), TA (day 6&7)
Thread 4, 29-Oct to 31-Oct, TA, AM (day 7) JB (day 8)

Five nurses working at Darlington Memorial Hospital have filed a legal case suing their employer, an NHS trust, for sexual harassment and sex discrimination. The nurses object to sharing the women’s changing facilities with a male colleague, Rose, who identifies as female. The hearing started on October 20th, with evidence starting on October 22nd and is scheduled to last 3 weeks. To view the hearing online requests for access had to be made by October 17th. The hearing is being live tweeted by Tribunal Tweets who have background to this case on their substack. An alternative to X is to use Nitter: nitter.net/tribunaltweets or nitter.poast.org/tribunaltweets

The Judge made clear at the start of the public hearing on Day 1 that only TT or press have permission to tweet. If online observers see/hear something in the court that isn’t reported by TT, we don’t mention it until the next time there’s a break. This is a very cautious approach to avoid any accusations of “live reporting” on MN. Commentary on the content of TT tweets is fine as soon as they’re posted on X.

Key people:
C/Ns - Claimants, the Darlington nurses
R/T/Trust - Respondent, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
J/EJ – Judge/Employment Judge Seamus Sweeney
NF - Niazi Fetto KC, barrister for claimants
SC - Simon Cheetham, KC, barrister for respondents
RH - Rose Henderson, trans identifying nurse
CG – Clare Gregory, ward manager
SW - Sue Williams, NHS Trust HR
KD – Karen Danson, first claimant to give evidence.
BH – Bethany Hutchison, claimant
AH – Alistair Hutchison, husband of Bethany
CH – Carly Hoy, claimant
JP – Jane Peveller, claimant
MG – Mary Anne (aka Annice) Grundy, claimant
TH – Tracy Hooper, claimant
SS – Siobhan Sinclair, witness for the claimants, retired from Trust
ST – Sharron Trevarrow, witness for the claimants, retired from Trust, former housekeeper and wellbeing officer
LL – Lisa Lockey, claimant
JP – Professor Jo Phoenix, expert witness
JS – Jane Shields, witness for the claimants
AT - Andrew Thacker, NHS trust Head of HR
TA – Tracy Atkinson, NHS trust HR.
AM – Andrew Moore, NHS Head of Workforce Experience
JB – Jillian Bailey, NHS Workforce Experience Manager

Well of course he was always a man. Should have added the point that the theatre team were accepting for whatever reason, but probably because TW wanted to appear 'with the times' and educated and virtuous, and she would use her position to make sure her team were in line. And those who were not in line were silent.

@ILikeDungs I agree with most of your points. However, whilst no-one in the surgical team made a formal complaint it doesn't necessarily follow that they were entirely happy with the situation. Perhaps they did not feel confident to put in a formal complaint due to the character of the person they would have to complain to.

Sorry, cross-posted.

There was a world of difference between complaining in 2019 and complaining in 2023. Someone making an earlier complaint would most likely have faced a disciplinary if not the loss of their job. By the time the repression lessened, there was a couple of years of "established practice". This is part of the dishonesty involved in the Trust's case that irritates me particularly.

Maya Forstater was dismissed from her work in 2019.

I wonder if the fact Rose started with the team as a student changed the dynamic. People's pastoral instincts may have kicked in or they may not have thought of it as a permanent arrangement.

Yes.

'If you complain you're a bigot who will be punished.'

'No one complained! Everyone was in complete agreement!'

🙄

I do think that the changing climate from 2019 is something that NF is unaware of. NC would have been on this point.

TT

Still waiting for session to start

The same phenomenon here. It takes me, on average, a few seconds or less to notice, on a very instinctive level. DH generally asks 'really?' - then has to agree I’m right after some minutes of thought.

Indeed. I personally don’t know that I would have been brave enough to complain then, in these circumstances.

Yes I hate the "well no one complained" argument. It's well evidenced that those who feel powerless are much less likely to make complaints. In the field I work in I've lost count of the number of ppl who refuse to complain about their care for fear it will be withdrawn when they are completely dependent on it. Care providers could absolutely say "well no one complained" but that didn't mean service recipients didn't have a reason to make one

That's interesting. My autistic DC don't do social cues well, but son and daughter both pick up a 'not rightness' that they interpret as a threat because of a history of bullying. Then, five or ten minutes later they start to process the 'why.'

I did wonder if Rose might have picked up on the heightened threat reaction of abuse survivors and singled out soft targets who were easier to intimidate. The theatre sister wouldn't have been my first choice for that role so he'd have cultivated the well behaved image for her. That's the classic presentation of the serial bully in my experience and it's interesting how little we're hearing about him. I wonder if that'll change when the judgment is given?

I was hoping to catch the first 30 minutes before I had to go out. I get the feeling Sue Williams is a key witness.

Goodness me. Darlington nurses have an enormous security guard (Ade)

https://x.com/DarlingtonUnion/status/1985636719945756786

I'm out for most of the morning, then have to do a seminar. Good luck, ladies!

Christian Concern have just posted that Rose is giving evidence this morning.

Is anyone in the tribunal room yet?

I left my iPad saying WFTCHTJ a few minutes ago to go briefly to another room. When I came back I had a black screen and no message. This usually means we’re in, so I did my usual thing, left and rejoined. However I’ve been WFTCHTJ to join for several minutes again.

Rushes to collect coffee...

Wellity well

Its shocking that they even need a security guard.

TT

We don’t know the reason for the long delay this morning. Still waiting for the session to begin.

[I think the rest of us have our suspicions...]

If RH is giving evidence, put up your continuation thread now@ThreeWordHarpy!

But will we be allowed in for it!!

Wow. "A refrigerator with a head" comes to mind!

If we aren't that will be a complete travesty.