"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

No one spoke to Rose.....

So everyone was talking about the man shaped elephant in the room, but not to the actual elephant in the room.

Witness frantically throws mud "big meanies everyone else sooooo upset for Rose" and attempts to force team lesbians because moooar mud

TT

TW We were supporting her. We hadnt witnessed and behaviour and not in CR at the same time
J The rumblings continued
TW We were trying to run the service
J The rumblings were known by Rose
Yes
J When did Rose become aware of rumblings
TW I think the petition. She was v happy and good at job. Happy she was accepted by all the multi disc team eg anaesthetists. It was a stressful time for Rose but these were v supportive discussions

Usually it is indicative of not telling the truth, or certainly lacking confidence in what you are saying.

Don't worry - those strange creatures are only being brought in in airquotes.

I’m going to miss the very end of this. I have to start running kids about for Halloween. I feel like I could miss a bomb going off any time 🤣

TT

J Did u know if Rose was aware of discomfort b4 the petiton
TW Not as far as I know
J Did u speak to Rose about the petition
TW I never saw the letter and Rose went off sick some time after that
J Did Jody see the letter
TW I think so but I dont know

Not one word about how difficult it was for the nurses.

'Everyone was angry, upset, what we were putting Rose through, lesbians asking do they need to move from the changing rooms.'

It was very easy to answer that one - only if the lesbians were male lesbians with penises. Otherwise given it was a single sex changing room the lesbians who were biological female were welcome to use it.

So another member of the NHS off sick!

Astronomical amounts of money have been wasted on this ideology.

she has a trans family member I’d guess

TT

J Did u speak to Rose when u became aware of the petirion
TW Not in depth. I asked are you alright, can we support you? It was a v difficult time for her.
J Just bear w me one moment. U mentioned the start times of 7.30 am and 8am TW We finish at 6pm and go out tog as a team or go home

RIP ‘concerning’ 🪦

How quickly we forget.

So it was 'everyone' vs a few rumbles. Rose was so loved.

She paints it like a civil war broke out at the hospital. I can see the theatre staff running around lobbing grenades and planting mines in the changing room for when the other nurses want to use it. In defence of Rose.

Even the lesbians...

I’d bet my house on it.

TT

TW Teams go in tog. I dont know the times of DSU but think they close at 7.30. They're not in the CR when we're in the CR
J You end at 6pm?
TW Hopefully
J Do u ever finish later
TW There's stuff to do
J Y're due to finish at 6 but may finish earlier or late

The funniest thing is she’s going to come out thinking she’s smashed it

Oh sod them! They're just everyday bog standard women - not shiny brave new becocked women.

TT

TW Yes
J Do theatre staff all use that CR
TW Yes
J When you say 6pm is that for all theatres
TW Yes. Darlington has 11 theatres, a lot
J So if all finish at 6pm they all decamp into the CR. What sitn might an indiv find themselves alone in CR

interesting line of questioning from the judge

It's like she is the expert on the CR - how can she know what the other users do or don't do?

TT

TW Might have gone to the loo
J To get changed
TW Is very rare to be in the CR and be alone. Have drs, anaesthetists and radiographers going in there
J Do u know whether any staff have left the trust cos the concerns over CR
TW Not that I'm aware of

What is happening Thursday????

Feels like he's trying to ascertain why Rose would be hanging around the CR if the team is usually in and out together

Angry witness, animated, hair pulled into a pony tail with the bottom of it caught into the hair tie. Black framed glasses that she peers over to express disapprobation.

Dominating, no nonsense. Black jacket, red top. I can imagine she is much more comfortable in scrubs.

But what a horror. And she was so shocked when Fetto mentioned that she had wanted a colleague to be forced to have a biological man in their theatre. She was immediately caught out in a lie. She knew she was caught out. She knew what she had done would not be viewed well.

So what did she do, she denied and deflected. She said Karen was a liar and made a series of false statements in her witness statement. But she missed the very point that the barrister for the Darlington NHS Trust had said that witness statement was accepted and uncontested. So the Court and both sides barristers have said that evidence is valid and not contested.

So hey everyone is believing a liar. She really stepped in the shit there.