Nurse at centre of tribunal against NHS board cleared of misconduct, lawyer says
Veteran nurse Ms Peggie brought the case against the health board after her complaint about sharing a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton led to her being suspended.
Ms Peggie lodged a complaint of sexual harassment or harassment related to a protected belief under section 26 of the Equality Act 2010.
A ten-day hearing was adjourned in February, shortly before the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.
The tribunal hearings are due to recommence in Dundee on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday evening, Ms Peggie was cleared of four gross misconduct allegations, confirmed by her lawyer Margaret Gribbon.
A statement read: 'On Tuesday, July 15, the evening before the resuming of her tribunal, Sandie Peggie received confirmation from Fife Health Board that following a disciplinary hearing, none of the gross misconduct allegations against her were upheld.
'This follows a disciplinary hearing on June 25, which considered four gross misconduct allegations: two relating to patient care failures, one of 'misgendering' Dr Upton, and one relating to her encounter with Dr Upton in the workplace female-only changing room on Christmas Eve 2023.
'Sandie is relieved and delighted that this 18-month long internal process has concluded and cleared her of all allegations.'
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The Herald Scotland
13 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Sandie Peggie tribunal: NHS pulled trans policy in February
The case against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton resumed on Wednesday, after being adjourned in February. READ MORE Ms Peggie, an A&E nurse at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, is suing her employer after being suspended following a confrontation with a trans woman medic. On Christmas Eve 2023, Ms Peggie experienced a sudden heavy period and was concerned she had bled through her scrubs. When she entered the changing room and saw Dr Beth Upton, she said, in her view, the medic was a man and should not be in the room. Dr Upton made a formal complaint shortly afterwards. Ms Peggie was placed on 'special leave' in late December 2023 and suspended in January 2024, pending an investigation into 'alleged unwanted behaviours towards another member of NHS Fife staff'. During the subsequent investigation, Dr Upton made further allegations about Ms Peggie, including a claim she left a patient 'unseen'. All four misconduct allegations were dismissed by NHS Fife on Tuesday following an investigation. Margaret Gribbon and Sandie Peggie (Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty) Ms Peggie lodged legal proceedings in the employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Upton, 'alleging multiple breaches of the Equality Act 2010', including concerns around Dr Upton's use of the changing room. The tribunal heard that in August 2023, Ms Peggie's line manager, Esther Davidson, sought 'generic' advice on transgender policies ahead of a new member of staff joining. Ms Bumba told her: 'I said it could be deemed discriminatory to not allow a trans person access to facilities that aligned with their gender, but I recommended that it might be worthwhile having a conversation with the person directly if they had been open about their trans status to see where they would be most comfortable.' Ms Bumba said she was asked to write up a policy for NHS Fife regarding trans staff. The tribunal heard she relied on guidance from other health boards, including NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Highland. She said she also regularly discussed trans policy with other NHS equality officers through the NHS Scotland Equality Leads Network. Ms Bumba later added that she had also used the Equality and Human Rights Commission's statutory code of practice, which was published in 2011. She said NHS Fife's lack of policy was partly because it was waiting on the national version. The draft guidance was 'soft launched' in October 2024. The document—released under Freedom of Information—states that denying a trans person the right to use their preferred facilities 'could be unlawful discrimination'. It adds that trans individuals do not require a gender recognition certificate and 'should not routinely be asked to produce it as evidence of their legal gender'. Ms Bumba said it was withdrawn in February 2025. 'I believe the soft launch has been pulled since the onset of this tribunal,' she said. READ MORE During cross-examination, Ms Bumba also admitted she had not consulted the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, which state that changing facilities will not be suitable 'unless they include separate facilities for, or separate use of facilities by, men and women where necessary for reasons of propriety'. Ms Peggie's barrister, Naomi Cunningham, suggested that assigning a private space to Dr Upton might have protected 'privacy, dignity and possibly also safety'. Ms Bumba responded: 'I'm not sure how isolating one individual would uphold their dignity.' She said a third space might have been a 'proportionate' solution if gender-critical women had raised concerns—but she was unaware of any such complaints at the time. Asked whether she had considered whether exclusion of trans people might protect the privacy and dignity of others, including those whose religion may prevent them from getting undressed in a room with a biological male, or women who have experienced sexual violence, Ms Bumba said: 'I was unaware of any issues with this policy and any concerns being raised at that time so it didn't seem proportionate to me.' Beth Upton and supporters in February (Image: NQ) Ms Cunningham also asked Ms Bumba about the definition of biological sex. The official said: 'I hazard a guess that I would be female but nobody knows what their chromosomes are.' Asked about the risk of men in women's spaces, Ms Bumba agreed that men generally pose a greater threat to women. However, she added: 'The risk you described does not equate for a trans person.' Ms Cunningham pressed further: 'Are you saying although men in general present a greater threat to women than women do, are you saying that trans women are different from other men in level of threat they present?' Ms Bumba replied: 'Absolutely. I have yet to see, other than one specific case, Isla Bryson, that they are a risk.' The inquiry continues.
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Nurse cleared of misconduct in trans doctor changing room row in Scotland
A nurse who objected to sharing a female changing room with a transgender woman doctor has been cleared of gross misconduct allegations. Sandie Peggie, who has worked as a nurse for the health board for more than 30 years, is claiming she was subject to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act when she was expected to share a changing room with a trans woman, Dr Beth Upton. Upton herself complained to the board about Peggie's behaviour after an altercation in the women's changing room in Victoria hospital, Kirkcaldy, Fife in December 2023. Peggie was accused of misconduct, failures of patient care and misgendering Upton. But NHS Fife confirmed on Wednesday that an internal hearing had concluded there was 'insufficient evidence to support a finding of misconduct'. Peggie's solicitor, Margaret Gribbon, described her client – who was suspended from work at the Victoria hospital in Kirkcaldy in January 2024 – as 'relieved and delighted' at the outcome of the 18-month internal process. NHS Fife and Upton are defending their actions in an employment tribunal case against the trust that resumed on Wedneday after a five-month break. The tribunal hearing is being watched closely for how it may be influenced by April's landmark judgment by the supreme court that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 does not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates. The ruling has since been publicly welcomed by Peggie and her supporters. In earlier evidence, Peggie said she had felt 'embarrassed and intimidated' when Upton started to get changed alongside her, leading to a heated exchange, the details of which are disputed. The health board has previously described Peggie's action as 'unnecessary and vexatious'. Upton is also disputing it. NHS Fife's equality lead, Isla Bumba, told NHS Fife's counsel, Jane Russell KC, that in August 2023, her line manager, Esther Davidson, had asked for 'very generic and informal' advice on how best to accommodate a new trans member of staff, 'particularly around changing rooms'. The advice was based on the Equality and Human Rights Commissions's statutory code of practice, which is currently being revised to reflect the supreme court's ruling. Bumba told the hearing: 'I said it could be deemed discriminatory to not allow a trans person access to facilities that aligned with their gender, but I recommended that it might be worthwhile having a conversation with the person directly if they had been open about their trans status to see where they would be most comfortable.' She confirmed to Russell that she was not aware of any other cases of staff objecting to trans employees using changing facilities that aligned with their lived gender to date, and that no other female staff had approached her to say they felt their safety, privacy or dignity were being compromised. Bumba was later questioned by Peggie's lawyer, Naomi Cunningham, who asked whether the health board's approach to allowing Upton to use the women's facilities amounted to forcing female colleagues 'to participate in a pretence' that Upton was a woman. 'I disagree,' said Bumba firmly. She later denied that she wanted to 'see Sandie Peggie punished' for her gender-critical views, telling Cunningham 'that's quite a leap'. Earlier she accepted that, while she believed that trans women were women, there were others who did not. 'I believe gender is a spectrum and people's views on gender will also be a spectrum'. As the tribunal continues, first minister John Swinney insisted that NHS Fife – which has spent at least £220,ooo defending its actions – 'has my confidence and support', while Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie called on NHS Fife to settle the tribunal case 'and brings this sorry saga to an end'.
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Can same legal team still represent NHS Fife and Dr Upton?
It hung over the stiflingly hot Room Four in Dundee's Tribunal Hearing Centre as NHS Fife's Equalities and Human Rights Lead Officer, Isla Bumba, was quizzed by lawyers and the employment judge. READ MORE For someone whose £60,000-a-year job is to lead on equality and human rights, the 20-something seemed a bit vague on equality and human rights legislation. Still, when asked in the summer of 2023 for some 'very generic and informal advice' on accommodating a trans person joining the ranks of NHS Fife—particularly around changing rooms—she said it 'could be deemed discriminatory to not allow a trans person access to facilities that aligned with their gender'. However, when pushed by Ms Peggie's KC, Naomi Cunningham, she admitted she hadn't considered the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, which say changing facilities aren't suitable 'unless they include separate facilities for, or separate use of facilities by, men and women where necessary for reasons of propriety'. Ms Bumba told the tribunal that, in light of everything, more attention could have been paid to certain things. Societally and legally we've evolved since July 2023, she added. During her evidence, NHS Fife's lawyer put forward lots of examples of trans policies in place at other health boards across the UK. The argument was, it seems, that everyone else was doing it, so we weren't to know any better. That may be true—but it was the changing room at the A&E in Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital where Dr Beth Upton and Sandie Peggie met on Christmas Eve. So it's very much NHS Fife's problem. And now it's also NHS Fife's problem that the complaints made about Ms Peggie by Dr Upton haven't stood up. Not only did the doctor report a 'hate incident' in the changing room, but once the investigation got underway, they made two more explosive allegations, raising 'clear fitness to practise questions'. One was that Ms Peggie 'walked out of a resuscitation unit when Dr Upton entered, leaving a patient unseen'. We know that an HR worker at the board internally questioned the 'validity of patient safety concerns due to lack of evidence', noting the allegations were based on 'perception' and that Ms Peggie hadn't even been asked about them. But NHS Fife pushed on with the investigation. Now that the health board has investigated and found nothing to back up the complaints, the question is whether they'll now face a disciplinary hearing of their own. In no walk of life do you get to make potentially career-ending allegations about a colleague—allegations that turn out to be baseless—and just move on. That's especially true in medicine. This could even see Dr Upton end up in front of the General Medical Council. What makes this all especially tricky for the health board is that these complaints—the trashing of Ms Peggie's reputation—formed a significant part of their case against her. The board doesn't just share a legal team with Dr Upton, they also share a legal argument, a legal narrative. They're inexorably linked. They can't settle unless Dr Upton agrees to settle. But given that would effectively mean the doctor admitting they fabricated the complaints, they've got a clear reputational reason to push on. The board, by contrast, has an interest in having some room to manoeuvre. It's in their interest to be able to throw Dr Upton under the bus if, as the tribunal resumes, it looks like they're heading for defeat. Lawyers owe a duty of single-minded loyalty to their client. They're prohibited from acting for two or more clients whose interests conflict—or even might conflict. So what does NHS Fife's legal team do now? Can they really continue this case without favouring one client over the other?
