The head of a women’s rights group has said the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman has “changed the landscape” of the ongoing tribunal involving nurse Sandie Peggie.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of campaign group Sex Matters, was speaking during a visit to Holyrood with Ms Peggie on Wednesday, where the pair met a number of politicians to discuss the impact the legal proceedings have had on Ms Peggie.
The nurse, who has worked at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy for 30 years, was suspended by NHS Fife after she complained about having to share a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton.
She took the health board and Dr Upton to an employment tribunal, lodging a complaint of sexual harassment or harassment related to a protected belief under Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010.
The visit to Holyrood also came shortly after a letter from Sex Matters to the Scottish Government threatening legal action if they did not implement April’s Supreme Court judgement on biological sex in equalities law.
The ruling stated said the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex, which has implications for access to single-sex spaces.
Asked how the judgment had affected the ongoing tribunal, Ms Forstater said: “I think it’s really changed the landscape. You can’t ignore it.
“But in practical terms, it was only about people with Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs), and the doctor in this case didn’t have a GRC.
“So, what NHS Fife was doing was unlawful before the Supreme Court judgment (and) it’s definitely unlawful now. And I think everyone can see that.”
She said of Wednesday’s meetings that it had been “important” for politicians to hear what Ms Peggie had been through as as result of “bad policies that NHS Fife, NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government (are) still sticking with”.
She went on: “All the politicians we met really understand the human impact of this on women.
“That Sandie’s rights at work were abused because of bad policies, bad decisions, right from the top.
“And what they heard was the real human impact on her.”
She added that there was “really no excuse” for delaying the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment.
“The law is clear from the moment that the Supreme Court gave their judgment, the Scottish Government, all public bodies, all private employers, were obliged to act,” she said.
Ms Peggie’s solicitor Margaret Gribbon also took part in the visit.
Afterwards she said: “Politicians needed to hear directly from Sandie to understand how the sheer depth of the discrimination and harassment she and women like her have endured in workplaces – in her case, as a nurse with 30 years’ unblemished service, simply because she objected to having to undress in front of a man.
“We were grateful for the politicians’ time and welcomed the opportunity to share insights into how misguided actions by public bodies such as NHS Fife have devastating real-life consequences and come at great expense to the Scottish taxpayer.
“We had productive meetings, and the door is always open for any politicians who were unable to meet Sandie today.”
Tribunal hearings took place in February and it will resume in July.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay was one of the politicians that Sandie Peggie met during her visit.
Commenting afterwards, he said: “It was a privilege to meet Sandie Peggie and to hear a first-hand account of her appalling ordeal.
“It is outrageous that a dedicated NHS nurse’s career has been destroyed and her life consumed by a suffocating legal process simply because she stood up for women’s rights.
“Sandie has paid a massive price for her brave and principled stand against the SNP Government’s promotion of gender politics which now infects Scotland’s entire public sector.
“NHS Fife should stop squandering vast sums of taxpayers’ cash on this nonsense and every state agency in Scotland must now respect the law and women’s rights.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment.
“We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment.
“This will prepare us to take all necessary steps when the regulator of the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, publishes its revised Statutory Code of Practice and associated guidance for services, public functions and associations.
“The EHRC is currently consulting on this revised Code of Practice.
“The Scottish Government’s approach is aligned with that of the UK Government and Welsh Government in awaiting the EHRC’s revised Statutory Code of Practice.
“We will respond to the letter in due course.”
The spokesperson added that it would be inappropriate to comment on Ms Peggie’s case while judicial proceedings in an employment tribunal are ongoing.
NHS Fife has been approached for comment.
