"Darlington Nurses" vs County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust Tribunal Thread 8

[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)
Thread 6, 04-Nov to 05-Nov; RH (day 10), SW (day 11)
Thread 7, 05-Nov to 11-Nov; SW (day 11), closing submissions

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 now complete. Submissions are being made on November 11th. 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

Fantastic

They won it 💃💃💃💃💃💃

My hands are still shaking and I feel breathless! I cannot begin to imagine how those poor women felt waiting.

Fucking YES !!!

Slightly weepy here. Great news!

BBC update:

Rose's "very presence was seen as provocative".

Words fail me.

Cheetham said the nurses' treatment of Rose had been "unkind and unjustified", with their allegations about conduct "exaggerated".

Nothing. Absolutely nothing could be worse than a woman being unkind. It’s how to tell the biological kind from the feeling kind. No expectations for anyone who simply feels womanly to be kind. Strange paradox.

Brilliant! Though I'm going to stay cautious until the BBC update in case there are some caveats which Christian Concern failed to mention.

Come on beeb...

Technically it has no effect - first tier tribunal decision is not binding on anyone but the parties to this case - but informally, yes, having at least one sensible judgement made can't hurt.

Oh my god.

Well done to these determined brave and stunning women. Hopefully this will now be used to enforce single sex facilities throughout the NHS

BBC not reporting it yet

It was on 5 live

Thank fuck.

well done those bloody sterling women

As breaking news

Sorry what?! Why are women meant to be kind to men violating their boundaries exactly?!

Verdict has restored some belief in common sense over these matters.

Come on beeb

I wonder if they are struggling to spin it?

Too fucken right.

https://christianconcern.com/ccpressreleases/victory-for-darlington-nurses-as-judge-rules-policy-that-allows-men-into-womens-changing-rooms-is-unlawful-harassment-and-discrimination/

'The Tribunal’s judgment concludes: “We were unclear what was meant by the submission that the policy was ‘lawful’ and deeper consideration of the argument led us to conclude that the policy of permitting biological males who identify as women to use a female changing room was not ‘lawful’.” The judgment then points out that the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires an employer to provide changing facilities which “include separate facilities for, or separate use of facilities by, men and women where necessary or reasons of propriety”.'

In their ruling, Employment Judge Sweeney and Tribunal members Denise Newey Malcolm Brain declared:
“By requiring the Claimants to share a changing room with a biological male trans woman… the Respondent engaged in unwanted conduct related to sex and gender reassignment which had the effect of violating the dignity of the Claimants and creating for the Claimants a hostile, humiliating and degrading environment.

“By not taking seriously and declining to address the Claimants’ concerns of August and September 2023 and of 04 April 2024, regarding that part of the Transition in the Workplace Policy that afforded biological males access to the female changing room, the Respondent engaged in unwanted conduct related to sex and gender reassignment which had the effect of creating for the Claimants a hostile and intimidating environment.”

Chrstian concern website.

I want to see the actual judgement tbh, not a press release from CC.

Did the EJ really rule that the policy to let a TiM into the women’s space was itself an act of harassment and discrimination? Because that’s big. Huge.

OH GOD I’M SO BEHIND

No they’re not. I was quoting from the NHS Trust lawyer who claimed the nurses were being unkind. I was noting how only one side is meant to be kind.

Our LGBTQ+++ desk need to calm down from their shaking and crying tantrum with some support animals and smelling salts, but once they've emerged bleary eyed and very very sad from their safe space room, we'll try and do some reporting.

*Plus, we need time to think about how on earth we're going to spin it

Amazing! Well done Fetto and team.

But most of all - the Darlington wonder women!

Hang on, are the Grauniad going to have to report on this too? This could be hilarious.