Seven female nurses at Darlington Memorial Hospital have won an employment tribunal case against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, after they objected to a trans woman colleague using the women's changing facilities. The tribunal ruled that the trust subjected the nurses to harassment related to sex and gender reassignment.
Judge Sweeney found that the trust violated the nurses' dignity and created a hostile, intimidating, humiliating and degrading environment by allowing Rose Henderson, a trans woman, to use the female changing room without providing suitable alternatives. The trust also failed to take the nurses' concerns seriously, instead referring to the need for them to be educated on trans rights.
The nurses claimed Henderson stared at them and asked one nurse three times if she was going to get changed. However, the tribunal dismissed complaints about Henderson's conduct as not well-founded, stating she did not behave improperly. The judge noted that this did not diminish the nurses' genuine perceptions of risk to their dignity and privacy.
Lead claimant Bethany Hutchison, backed by the Christian Legal Centre, called the ruling a victory for common sense. She said: 'Requiring women to undress in front of men is not equality, it is a violation of our dignity.' The nurses expressed compassion for Henderson, blaming the trust for putting her in that situation.
The trust said it was considering the judgment and its implications. The ruling is expected to influence NHS policies on single-sex spaces across the country.
