An aerospace engineer has lost her employment tribunal claim against her employer after objecting to sharing female toilet facilities with transgender colleagues.
Details of the Tribunal Claim
Maria Kelly, a people and capability lead at defence giant Leonardo UK's Edinburgh office, brought the case alleging harassment related to sex, direct sex discrimination, and indirect sex discrimination. The tribunal, heard in Edinburgh in October before employment judge Michelle Sutherland, has now dismissed all of Ms Kelly's claims.
Ms Kelly told the tribunal she began using a 'secret' toilet at her workplace after encountering a transgender colleague in a female bathroom in March 2023. She stated she had first become aware of a transgender person using the female toilets in 2019 but did not raise the issue with the company at the time, fearing she would be labelled 'transphobic' or placed on a 'naughty list'.
The Tribunal's Ruling and Reasoning
In a written judgment published this week, Judge Sutherland found there was no 'disadvantage' caused by the company's toilet access policy. She noted that Leonardo UK's position was that 'one out of 9,500 employees raised a concern about the impact of the policy despite multiple means to do so'.
The judgment stated that any concerns about fear or privacy could be addressed by affected female staff using available single-occupancy facilities. Furthermore, it concluded that 'any effect on risk of assault arising from 0.5 per cent of men using the women's toilets instead of the men's toilets would not have changed the overall risk profile across toilet facilities generally'.
Judge Sutherland ruled that 'in the circumstances of this case, the toilet access policy was in the alternative a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim'.
Reaction and Intention to Appeal
Ms Kelly expressed disappointment with the judgment, stating she believes it 'fundamentally misunderstands both the law and my case'. She confirmed her intention to appeal and will ask the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) to expedite the process.
She linked her case to the UK Supreme Court's ruling in April, which stated that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex. Ms Kelly warned that the tribunal's decision 'risks further confounding the already widespread misunderstanding and defiance of the Supreme Court's judgment' in the For Women Scotland case.
Leonardo UK has been contacted for comment regarding the tribunal's outcome.
