"Darlington Nurses" vs County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust Tribunal Thread 6

[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)
Thread 5, 31-Oct to 04-Nov; JB (day 8), SW, CG, JR (day 9)

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, NHS 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
AT – Anna Telfer, NHS Deputy Director of Nursing
SW – Sandra Watson, Matron for General and Elective Surgery
JR – Jodie Robinson, manager of Rose

While we are waiting, I was musing on the row of Big HR Bosses who apparently seem set to attend every day of the hearing. I think if they can all afford to be away from the office for that long then it kind of proves that their jobs really aren't essential for the functioning of the Trust.

Go for it! (can you send some my way?)

Ooo chip butty, thats lunch sorted

My thoughts exactly.

I've found a Tunnock to help while away the delay. How telling that no other witness has held up proceedings.

If we aren't allowed to observe remotely does this mean nobody is allowed in the public gallery either?
(Well, what passes for the public gallery, i.e. the chairs at the back. We know they aren't just for those involved in the case as Sandie Peggie was there earlier in the tribunal.)

In which case Rose could have appeared remotely. That would also have been the case if (for whatever reason) she is too unwell or otherwise unable to attend in person.

Just scampered through the last thread on my coffee break to get to the DUFF DUFF DUFF eastenders drum and ran onto this thread, blimey.

I am supposed to be crunching some big numbers today, oh well, don't you know my dog ate my spreadsheet and, there was a bincident.

We don't know if Rose is giving evidence in person or remotely do we? The delays could be due to connection issues if it's remotely.

He not she Rosw is a man that's the whole point of the tribunal a man was in the female facilities

Oh they are done already! Scaffolding up, cheerful men gone. I'm climbing up there when there is a break. If we ever get in.

Do TT have a representative at the hearing or are they attending remotely? Perhaps @Justabaker knows?

Edit for typo

PS Big Ade 😍

Someone just posted on X that the lawyers are in the room discussing what questions can / can't be asked.

I think only remotely. You can see/read who else is in the room with you, and in mine there's a few people with Tribunal Tweets as part of their name. There was also an issue the other day with sound where my room missed about ten mins because of no sound.

I wonder how the tweeter knows

" What was it about the chance of seeing females changing that first attracted you to the female changing room?"

They're going to be breaking for lunch soon...

Given they are running so late, won't they have to put Sue Williams on first as she has to leave early? I'm sure NF said he needed a long time with her

Maybe Rose is causing bother to try to disrupt proceedings, avoid being seen on screen (hence delays), and the lawyers will be trying to avoid questions about pretty much anything that shows he's really a man.

And are they allowed to say what they're not allowed to ask? Or is it the Super-injunction of 'questions not to be asked' list?

Oof, just caught up and saw the picture of Ade! That got me delurking.

Didn’t that happen on a tribunal earlier this year? Early lunch after a closed panel/representatives-only session.

So shall we play a game of allowed/ not allowed while we're waiting?
I'll start - 'What's in a name?' Allowed/Not allowed?

Is Sue Williams a pseudonym for Rose?