Maya Forstater vs CGD et al: the case that gave us 'that tweet' & 'WORIADS'

WORIADS = Worthy of respect in a democratic society.

Overview

Maya Forstater did not have her contract renewed at the think tank Center for Global Development (CGD) in March 2019. She had posted several tweets questioning government plans for gender self ID. Maya took CGD to an employment tribunal in 2019 asserting that she was discriminated against for her gender critical belief. She lost that initial case with the tribunal judge commenting that her views were ‘absolutist’ and "The approach is not worthy of respect in a democratic society."

Here’s a blog post written by Maya in May 2019 with additional detail on her tweets on the self-id discussion. And there’s a wikipedia page about the case.

The case attracted, and continues to attract, a great deal of interest, including this now famous tweet from author JK Rowling in December 2019.

The initial decision was appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal which overturned that decision on 10 June 2021. The Honourable Mr Justice Choudhury said that her "gender-critical beliefs" did fall under the Equality Act as they "did not seek to destroy the rights of trans persons". The EAT concluded that her belief that biological sex is real, important and immutable met the legal test of a genuine and important philosophical position that is protected under the UK's equality laws. In other words, ‘worthy of respect in a democratic society’.

The case was returned to the Employment Tribunal for a full merits hearing (in substance a retrial). That hearing took place at the Central London Employment Tribunal from 7 March 2022 through 22 March 2022. Judgement is expected some time in summer 2022.

Ben Cooper, QC, appearing for the claimant.

Live Tweet Threads

7 March 2022 - procedural matters and reporting restrictions

9 March 2022 - application from counsel for the respondents for reporting restrictions for four individuals, all employees of CGD & arguments from counsel for the claimants. The application was successful and the four individuals could not be named.

9 March 2022 Afternoon - the conclusion of discussions on application for reporting restrictions and practical implementation thereof.

10 March 2022 Morning - Maya Forstater questioned about her evidence by Olivia Dobbie, acting for the respondents

Live tweet from MF’s evidence, referring to the pronouns used by the individual named by OD.

10 March 2022 Afternoon Maya Forstater evidence continues

11 March 2022 Morning - Maya Forstater evidence continues

11 March 2022 Afternoon - Maya Forstater evidence concludes, with clarifying questions from Ben Cooper, QC.

14 March 2022 Morning - evidence from Luke Easly (LE). Director of Finance and Administration / HR Director of GCD (based in Washington).

Live tweet from LE’s evidence session. Most tweet impressions on Tribunal Tweets for period of tribunal.

14 March 2022 Afternoon Part 1 - evidence by LE, with examination by BC continues.

14 March 2022 Afternoon Part 2 - evidence by LE, with examination by BC continues.

14 March 2022 Afternoon Part 3 - evidence by LE, with examination by BC continues.

15 March 2022 Morning - evidence by LE, with examination by BC continues.

Luke Easley, on behalf of CGD, commissioned a report from a now defunct consulting firm, Quantum Impact. Below is the covering email sent with the drafts of the two versions of their report.

15 March 2022 Afternoon - re-examination of LE by OD, then evidence from Amanda Glassman (AG), Chief Operating Officer, Senior Fellow and Board Secretary of CGD and a Trustee of CGD(Europe).

16 March 2022 Morning - evidence from AG, with examination by BC continues.

Live tweet from AG’s evidence referring to Phillip (Pip) Bunce.

16 March 2022 Afternoon - evidence from AG, with examination by BC concludes. Evidence from Mark Plant (MP) Director of development, Finance, Senior Policy Fellow (CGD), COO of CGD Europe (DC/ London from Sept 18) with examination by BC.

17 March 2022 Morning - evidence from MP continues.

17 March 2022 Afternoon - evidence from MP continues.

18 March 2022 Morning - evidence from MP continues

18 March 2022 Afternoon - MP evidence concludes. Masood Ahmed (MA), President of CGD, Chair of the Board of CGDE and one of the respondents gives evidence, examined by BC

21 March 2022 Morning - MA evidence concludes

22 March 2022 - submissions

23 March 2022 - submissions

Abbreviations

BC = Ben Cooper QC, counsel for
MF = Maya Forstater – Claimant
AP = Anya Palmer, assisting BC
OD = Olivia Dobbie, counsel for the respondents
EJ = Employment judge, leading the three-person panel hearing the case.
Panel = any one of the three members

CGDE (CGD Europe) – Respondent 1
CGD = Centre for Global Development – Respondent 2
MA = Masood Ahmed, President of CGD and Chair of the Board of CGDE – Respondent 3