Judge throws out Sandie Peggie’s gender-critical discrimination claim against RCN
Sandie Peggie (Getty Images)
An employment tribunal has dismissed nurse Sandie Peggie’s claim that the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) discriminated against her over her gender-critical beliefs.
In a 37-page ruling issued on Monday, the tribunal threw out all three of Peggie’s direct discrimination complaints, finding insufficient evidence that her protected belief was behind the union’s actions.
The tribunal accepted Peggie’s views were a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. However it concluded that this did not shape how the RCN handled her case.
The judgment (via STV) stated: “The tribunal concluded that Stuart Fraser’s actions were not, consciously or subconsciously, influenced by the claimant’s protected belief.”
Why did Sandie Peggie bring a case against the RCN?
Peggie’s claim centred on the support she received from the union following a dispute involving transgender doctor Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy in December 2023. Dr Upton left the NHS in February this year.
She maintained that, after her suspension from work in January 2024, the RCN ought to have provided her with legal advice and supported her in securing legal representation for an additional claim against NHS Fife. Peggie further pressed the health board for firmer guarantees on single-sex facilities and on how staff with gender-critical beliefs would be treated.
The tribunal was told that RCN representative Stuart Fraser took the standard course of outlining how the suspension process works, then awaiting more information before weighing up any fuller advice or legal assistance.
A second complaint concerned the RCN declining to pay for legal support for an additional employment tribunal claim against NHS Fife. The union said Peggie was already represented by independent lawyers, and that the fresh complaint was tightly linked to her ongoing proceedings.
The third complaint concerned an email that RCN representative Gillian Tait sent to NHS Fife. The tribunal found she was acting to support Peggie as an individual member, rather than addressing wider workplace policy issues.
Peggie’s response
Employment Judge Melanie Sangster concluded Peggie’s gender-critical beliefs had not consciously or subconsciously influenced the RCN’s actions, dismissing all three direct discrimination complaints.
The tribunal concluded: “For these reasons, the claimant’s complaints of direct discrimination do not succeed and are dismissed.”
A spokesperson for Peggie said the judgment raised “serious questions about the value of trade union membership”, adding: “Sandie Peggie’s legal team will carefully consider the judgment before making recommendations to Sandie on any further legal steps available to her.”
Peggie’s wider dispute has drawn attention as part of the UK conflict over workplace single-sex spaces and trans inclusion. When her evidence in her NHS Fife case began, she had been suspended after complaining about sharing a changing room with Dr Upton, from January 2024 until April 2024.
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