Sandie Peggie has lost her employment tribunal case against the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) after a judge dismissed claims that the union discriminated against her because of her gender-critical beliefs.
The Fife nurse brought legal action alleging direct discrimination over her protected philosophical beliefs, claiming the union failed to adequately support her during a workplace dispute involving transgender medic Dr Beth Upton.
A judgment issued on Monday found that the RCN had not subjected Ms Peggie to direct discrimination, according to STV.
Background of the dispute
Ms Peggie previously brought a separate case against NHS Fife after sharing a changing room with Dr Upton at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital in December 2023. 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. However, all allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination, and victimisation were dismissed.
All claims against Dr Upton were dismissed, and the judgment said that during the changing room incident, she had likely been "harassed" by Ms Peggie, who had a series of racist jokes revealed during the initial tribunal.
Complaints about union support
The latest tribunal, heard in Dundee in September and October, focused on three complaints about the support Ms Peggie received from the RCN following the changing-room dispute. She argued the union should have provided legal advice after she was suspended in January 2024, helped secure legal representation for a further claim against NHS Fife, and obtained stronger assurances about single-sex facilities and the treatment of staff with gender-critical beliefs.
The tribunal heard that RCN representative Stuart Fraser had followed the union's usual approach by explaining the suspension process and waiting for further information before considering more detailed advice or legal support.
Judgment details
The 37-page judgment, released on Monday, November 2, stated: "The judgment of the Tribunal is that the claimant's complaints of direct discrimination do not succeed and are dismissed." The tribunal concluded that Stuart Fraser's actions were not, consciously or subconsciously, influenced by the claimant's protected belief.
The tribunal also found that the union's refusal to fund further legal support was consistent with its established practice, noting Ms Peggie had already obtained independent legal advice and that the additional complaint was closely connected to her existing proceedings.
A third complaint concerned an email sent by RCN representative Gillian Tait to NHS Fife. Ms Peggie argued the union had failed to seek all the assurances she wanted regarding single-sex facilities, protections for gender-critical staff, and the right of members to discuss and organise around those issues.
However, the tribunal found that Ms Tait had been acting to support Ms Peggie as an individual member rather than address wider workplace policy. Employment Judge Melanie Sangster concluded that none of the union's actions had been consciously or subconsciously influenced by Ms Peggie's protected beliefs, dismissing all three complaints of direct discrimination.
Reactions to the ruling
An RCN spokesperson said: "The judgment is comprehensive and we welcome the decision that we did not discriminate against our member based on her protected beliefs. RCN staff followed agreed processes that apply to all members and we acted fairly and impartially. We are sorry these matters were aired before the Tribunal. The RCN is an anti-discrimination organisation, supporting all of its members."
Responding to the judgment, a spokesperson for Ms Peggie said: "It raises serious questions about the value of trade union membership if, when members report workplace concerns, the responsibility falls on them, rather than on experienced and trained union officers supported by internal and external legal teams, to identify the correct statutory basis for potential legal claims.
"The judgment also suggests that, where a woman seeks advice from her trade union because she objects to undressing in front of a male colleague at work, the union is entitled to characterise her concerns merely as a disagreement about access to a changing room, rather than recognising them as an expression of her protected belief that a man who identifies as a woman remains a man.
"It is also disappointing that the tribunal declined to make a finding on Sandie Peggie's contention that the RCN, as an organisation, had adopted gender ideology as an institutional belief, particularly since it had been decided at a preliminary hearing on September 22 2026 that this was a matter in dispute between the parties which needed to be determined.
"Sandie Peggie's legal team will carefully consider the judgment before making recommendations to Sandie on any further legal steps available to her."
