A union representative has said Sandie Peggie was suspended because of her conduct, not because of her sex and gender beliefs, a tribunal has heard.
RCN representative Stuart Fraser gave evidence at Ms Peggie's employment tribunal against the union on Monday and Tuesday. He initially spoke to the Fife nurse after her confrontation over sharing a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital in December 2023.
Background to the case
The first employment tribunal awarded Ms Peggie a partial victory against the health board in December last year, upholding claims of harassment against her employer, but dismissing allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation.
Ms Peggie has now brought the legal case against the RCN over what she claims was direct discrimination over her gender-critical beliefs, saying it had failed to adequately support her during a dispute with her employer. She is seeking a finding that the union discriminated against her because of her gender-critical and sex realist beliefs. The RCN denies the claims.
Evidence given to the tribunal
Responding to questions from Ms Peggie's barrister Naomi Cunningham, Mr Fraser said he did not believe she had been suspended because of her gender critical beliefs, but because of her conduct.
Ms Cunningham argued that Ms Peggie believed Dr Upton should not have been allowed to use the women's changing rooms, and she said that was a "protected belief" that Ms Peggie should be allowed to express. "I believed (Ms Peggie) was entitled to have that view," Mr Fraser told the tribunal.
The union representative said the nurse's beliefs were "not what sparked the NHS Fife review", but rather "how those beliefs manifested".
Claims about RCN culture
During a back and forth exchange, Ms Cunningham suggested that it "didn't occur" to Mr Fraser that there might be a claim against Dr Upton because "everything in RCN training and culture told (him) that trans women are women and had a right to be in that room". Ms Cunningham also suggested that the "whole culture of the RCN is one of profound indulgence towards claims of trans-identifying men".
Mr Fraser said it was his understanding that transgender individuals could use the facilities with which they identify, based on guidance from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Regarding claims that the RCN was "indulgent" towards trans-identifying men, Mr Fraser said it was his experience that "nurses tend to be more replaceable than doctors", which he indicated may have played a part in Ms Peggie's dispute.
The tribunal, taking place before employment judge Melanie Sangster in Dundee, continues.
