An employment judge has been forced to make an 'unprecedented' series of 11 corrections to a controversial tribunal ruling that dismissed most of the claims brought by a veteran nurse against NHS Fife. The case, which centres on harassment allegations after the nurse complained about sharing a changing room with a biological male colleague, is now under intense scrutiny and set for appeal.
Details of the Controversial Ruling and Initial Errors
Employment Judge Sandy Kemp ruled earlier this month that 52-year-old A&E nurse Sandie Peggie was harassed by her employer, NHS Fife. This followed her complaint about having to share changing facilities with Dr Beth Upton, a doctor who identifies as female but is biologically male. However, the judge dismissed the majority of Ms Peggie's claims against the health board and all claims against Dr Upton.
The judgment began to unravel rapidly after publication. Judge Kemp was first compelled to issue a correction when it was discovered a quotation cited in the ruling did not actually exist. This was followed, just before Christmas, by the issuance of a further Certificate of Correction addressing 11 additional mistakes.
Legal Experts Condemn 'Unprecedented' Amendments
The scale and nature of the revisions have alarmed legal professionals. Michael Foran, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oxford, stated the repeated corrections represent an "unprecedented use of a power expressly confined to amending clerical mistakes." He emphasised this power should not be used for substantive amendments or to fix citation errors.
"Most concerning is the attempt to use this power to remove quotations suspected of being fabricated and to remove quotation marks from other parts of the judgment," Professor Foran added. "While this could be presented as correction of typographical errors ... the original judgment presented these sentences as quotations from cases where those quotations did not exist. There remain outstanding questions about how these false quotations made it into the judgment in the first place."
Political Reaction and Specific Corrections Made
The corrections have drawn sharp criticism from politicians across the spectrum. Tess White, the Scottish Conservatives' equalities spokesman, noted the amendments had been "snuck out just before Christmas." Among the specific errors fixed was the misnaming of the group 'Not All Gays' as 'Not For Gays' in the document.
Labour MP Joani Reid was blunt in her assessment: "We should expect a minimum standard of competence from a judge on a £140,000, taxpayer-funded salary. That an employment tribunal ruling in such an important case has had to be re-issued once again with multiple corrections is unacceptable."
The controversial ruling remains a live issue, with Sandie Peggie set to appeal the outcome. The tribunal service has stated it cannot comment on individual cases, leaving the corrected but heavily scrutinised judgment as the focal point for a case that touches on highly sensitive issues of employment rights, gender identity, and institutional accountability within the NHS.
