Sandie Peggie vs NHS Fife Health Board and Dr Beth Upton, following Employment Tribunal judgment - thread #62

[nauticant]

Judgment was handed down on 8 December 2025:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6936ce28a6fc97b81e57436a/S_Peggie_v_Fife_Health_Board__Dr_Upton.pdf

Sandie Peggie, a nurse at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy (VH), 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.
Following handing down of the judgment on 8 December 2025, on 11 December 2025, it was announced by Sandie Peggie and her legal team that they would be pursuing an appeal and it was reported on 3 August 2026 that leave to appeal had been granted with an expectation that the appeal proceedings could take place in court early next year (2027).

The hearing was 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.

Links to previous threads #1 to #60 can be found in this thread: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5379717-sandie-peggie-list-of-threads-covering-employment-tribunal-and-afterwards

Thread 60: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5461133-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-following-employment-tribunal-judgment-thread-60 16 December 2025 to 8 January 2026

Thread 61: mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5472628-sandie-peggie-vs-nhs-fife-health-board-and-dr-beth-upton-following-employment-tribunal-judgment-thread-61 8 January 2026 to 3 August 2026

I doubt the courier would be stupid enough to say that about carol potter if they didn't have the evidence to back it up. Not that I personally doubt the truth of it.

I don't doubt the truth of it for one moment. It's just the first time as far as I know that it's become public knowledge.

I suspect that there are far far more people supporting Sandie than NHS Fife would like to acknowledge.

I think people have def wondered, and it's possible, but equally Beth has obviously improved his position by going. He couldn't realistically have worked for Fife in his clinical role after this, any more than Sandie's going to be able to, too public. Australia is a long way away, and the policy climate gives him more free access to unwilling women in changing room and bogs. Plus there's the general exodus of UK docs to Oceania anyway.

Honestly I wouldn't be that surprised if it was all his idea and at least some at Fife were sad to see him go.

Well done to the Scottish Information Commissioner and I’m looking forward to a few Courier articles showing exactly what went on behind the scenes. Hope St Andrews is proud of its new honorary prof.

I feel annoyed, to put it mildly that Upton has won. He has successfully destroyed the career of a competent hard working nurse.

This. The man is a menace. Destroyed Sandie’s career, her peace of mind, upset her family, made the NHS look unbelievably stupid, there’s no end to the misery and destruction he has caused.

The discussion has moved on a lot and obviously I wasnt paying attention to why Sandie's lawyers were arguing bias in the tribunal. However the point about not accepting transwomen were more or a risk than women was another example of bias I noted - they quoted a study Maya referred to and used the argument that it didnt count because newer data was not included. It totally ignored Maya's explanation that the newer data didnt differentiate between transwomen and transmen so couldnt show anything.

Right at the start of the tribunal there was the discussion about language and Sandie and her lawyers being told to be careful what language they used.

The "prosleytising" nonsense ignored that Upton was forcing his view on Sandie and others by using the womens toilets.

Then there was the inclusion of Sandie having made bad jokes - irrelevant to the case and included as a way of encouraging an appeal tribunal to show equal bias.

Upton presented concerns about patient safety that were taken seriously by his employers. Those concerns were shown to lack evidence, what little independent evidence was available did not support them. This should lead an independent observer to have some concern about Upton's credibility, even if they still went on to prefer his view of what happened on Christmas Eve.

Leaving aside why Sandie's lawyers were arguing the tribunal was biased I think it's possible to make a good argument to an unbiased observer that the tribunal were biased.

The Reverend Randall's appeal was, I believe, at least partly allowed because of bias. It might be worth checking the specifics of that. It might be applicable to this.

The judgment is not available online but, as I understand it, the finding of bias was based on a series of anti-Christian posts on social media. Unless someone uncovers posts by a member of this ET showing strong anti-gender inclusive views, I don't think this helps at all.

If the unnamed individual who helped the judge imagine up the fictitious quotes etc is a trans activists would that count as bias

If the individual influenced the decision, possibly yes. However, we have no evidence that they did so, hence the request by Sandie's team for more information. They want to see if there is evidence that the conversation breached judicial conduct guidelines. If it did, that is a problem regardless of whether the individual concerned is a trans activist, but would definitely indicate bias if they are. However, if the conversation remained within the guidelines, it is unlikely that individual's personal views would give rise to a case for bias.

FFS!!! https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/16815422/nhs-boss-sandie-peggie-rebrands-as-personal-trainer/

Dear god - she has no self awareness, does she?!

Presumably it is the messaging, rather than the career switch, that you find annoying, @OhBuggerandArse ? I think it is quite funny, really. It draws attention to the complete vacuity of the kind of 'values-rich, inspirational' management-speak that NHS trusts like to go for, when you see that it can be transplanted wholesale into being a gym instructor.

I'm just wondering whether I would feel the need to make a 1,700 word statement on social media if I decided to become a gym instructor.

It does suggest that years of attending meetings whose chief outcomes were brand-friendly statements of what the meeting had decided gives you an almost magical account of what words are actually for.

Perhaps in her gym classes people will simply sit and chant "I will get 10% more muscle this quarter and my resting heart rate will sustain a 55 bmp average in 2027."

I'm reminded that psychopaths are, apparently, over represented in higher levels of management.

Although she seems to be saying it's only now that she's going to be trying to apply kindness, safety and respect. So perhaps not completely blind to her previous failures.

If I lived near her I'd be tempted to rent her for an hour's training, we'd have plenty of time to chat. I'd probably be a bit breathless so, aside from a few questions, I'd expect her to do most of the talking. The reporters from the local rags could probably claim for the lessons on expenses.

I think it's interesting that she hasn't been seemlessly shifted into some other senior role. I fully expected her to pop up somewhere else in the public or charity sectors.

Isn she now on the Board of Fife College? No doubt still unsure who's male and who's female. It's all just so <exaggerated sigh> nuanced and complex.

Ah yes. Joined in April apparently.

Carol served as Chief Executive of NHS Fife from 2020, where she led the organisation through significant and sustained challenge, including the COVID-19 pandemic, with a clear emphasis on values-based, kind and compassionate leadership, staff wellbeing and high-quality care. (except for women, obvs)

www.fife.ac.uk/more/board-governance-and-reporting/our-board-members/carol-potter/

Unless those women are the kind who are born with penises - then she's falling over herself to be kind and supportive of their wellbeing.

Actual women who don't want men in their spaces can fuck right off in Carol's world.

Ooh - good idea - any one here from Fife fancy a go? You could lecture her at length on the need to respect female dignity whilst doing your squats.....

God help us.

She'll not like it if she pops in the (Fife) leisure centre that I use...Some of the changing rooms are marked "Female".

When I first joined, I enquired about showering facilities etc. One of the men on reception gave me directions and then told me that if they were all in use I could pop downstairs to those in the swimming pool area. He then hesitated and made a point of telling me that the swimming pool showers are unisex.

I had a feeling that there might have been issues at one point. The one time I used those adjacent to the pool, I noticed that they'd retrofitted bars at the top, to stop people being able to get over (I assume).

I've only once seen someone obviously a Trans Identified Male at the centre - they were coming out the main door and wearing an outfit that looked like a poor copy of one of the outfits worn by female staff.

Pass.

Oh dear Lord. We often get students from the college coming into our centre to get work experience for one of their modules.

Haven't noticed an older blonde woman yet. (We do get some excellent older trainees who have opted tor a change of career in their 50s or older. Some are now taking their own classes at the centre.)