Peggie vs Fife Health Board and Dr. B Upton - Part 2
Changing rooms at centre of workplace discord
This is Part 2 of our reporting. Please see our previous reporting here, additional press here, reporting on the Respondents action to prohibit Tribunal Tweets from further reporting and two factual corrections here.
Ms Peggie, a nurse at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy (VH), has brought claims in the employment tribunal against her employer; Fife Health Board (the Board) and another employee, Dr B Upton. Ms Peggie’s claims are of sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination and victimisation. Dr Upton claims to be a transwoman, that is observed as male at birth but asserting a female gender identity.
Peggie and Upton both worked in the A&E department at the Victoria Hospital. A changing room was provided to all female members of staff. Dr Upton was permitted to use the changing room and did so. Peggie declined on several occasions to use the changing room when alone with Dr Upton. Eventually, she was placed on special leave and suspended and subjected to disciplinary proceedings.
Current Status
The full merits hearing (finding of fact) will resume on 16 July 2025 and is scheduled to run for another 11 days. The case went part heard after two weeks on 14 February 2025. The in person hearing has been relocated to Dundee. The hearing is available to remote observers, although numbers have been limited by Employment Tribunal based on the capacity of the video technology used. The deadline for applications to observe was 12 July 2025.
Admonition to Witnesses Re Live Text Based Communications
The EJ has given specific directions to witnesses called by the parties as follows:
Additional Relevant Material
Relevant Documents can be found here, Case Management Orders can be found here, Previous Hearings can be found here.
Live Tweet Threads
16 July 2025 morning,
16th July 2025 afternoon - part one and part two
17th July 2025 morning - Part one, part two and part three
17th July 2025 afternoon - Part one, part two and part three
18th July 2025 morning - Part one and part two
Abbreviations
Claimant, respondents, counsel, members of the court
C/SP - Claimant, Sandy Peggie
NC - Naomi Cunningham, C’s barrister
MG - Margaret Gribbons, C’s solicitor
R/Board - first respondent, Fife Health Board
R2/DU - second respondent, Dr B Upton
Rs – first and second respondents
JR - Jane Russell, KC, barrister for respondents
AW - Adam Watson, solicitor for respondents
J - Employment Judge Alexander Kemp
ET - Employment Tribunal
P1, P2 - additional panel members; CM Russell, L Brown
Witnesses/Frequently Referenced Personnel of NHS Fife
MF - Maya Forstater, CEO of Sex Matters
DP - Darren Peggie, Claimant's husband
NP - Nicole Peggie, Claimant's daughter
SB - Sheila Bell, Claimant's mother
ED - Esther Davidson, SP’s line manager
IB – Isla Bumba, NHS Fife Equality and Diversity Lead Officer
KS - Kate Searle, A&E consultant
SF - Stuart Fraser, SP’s RCN Rep
AG - Angela Glancy, headed up in SP investigationVV – Vic Valentine, Equality Network
Abbreviations for frequently used terms (not exhaustive)
AE - Accident & emergency department
B&H - bullying and harassment
CR - changing room
CX – complaint
DX - disciplinary procedure or process
FtP - fitness to practice
GC /SR: gender critical or sex realists. Belief that biological sex is important, immutable and different from gender identity
GI – Gender identity is a person's internal sense of their own gender, which may or may not align with their birth sex.
HI - hate incident
HR - Human Rights
IX - investigation
PCP - provision, criteria or practice is a rule, policy, or practice that can put people at a disadvantage based on certain characteristics. The term is used in employment law to assess whether an employer's actions create different outcomes for employees based on their characteristics.
SocMed - social media
SM - Sex Matters
TM – transman (person born female who claims a male gender identity)
TMAM - transmen are men
TW – Transwoman (person born male who claims a female gender identity)TWAW - transwomen are women
OfS - Once for Scotland
GM - Gillian Malone, Director of Nursing, NHS Fife
EA - Equality Act 2010
PC - protected characteristic; 9 under EA
RA = risk assessment