An employment tribunal involving an NHS Fife nurse who objected to sharing a changing room with a transgender doctor has concluded its evidence, but a last-minute application from the health board’s lawyers threatens to delay the outcome by months. Sandie Peggie, a nurse of more than 30 years, claims she faced unlawful harassment under the Equality Act when asked to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
The tribunal, which began in February and reconvened in July, has been closely watched as a test case following the Supreme Court’s April ruling that “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological women and biological sex. Closing submissions were heard on Monday and Tuesday in Dundee, but Judge Sandy Kemp now faces a late application from NHS Fife to amend their pleadings, which could cause further delays and appeals.
Peggie’s lawyer, Naomi Cunningham, argued that under the Supreme Court ruling, trans women without a gender recognition certificate (GRC) are legally men and must be excluded from women-only spaces. She described NHS Fife as being “in the grip of a delusion” and accused the board of subjecting Peggie to a “heresy hunt” for her gender-critical beliefs. Jane Russell KC, representing the health board and Dr Upton, countered that the ruling applies to service providers, not employers, and that NHS Fife was not obliged to exclude Dr Upton.
The case stems from a Christmas Eve 2023 incident in which Dr Upton alleged bullying and harassment, leading to Peggie’s suspension. NHS Fife confirmed in July that Peggie was cleared of gross misconduct after an internal process. The tribunal has cost NHS Fife nearly £220,500, with national groups such as Sex Matters and TransLucent granted permission to intervene.
