Justice never sleeps. And Tribunal Tweets has covered a number of tribunals and proceedings since our last periodic newsletter on 12 June. Closing submissions in Allison Bailey’s tribunal, preliminary hearings in several other cases and for the archive - our coverage of Raquel Rosario Sanchez’ unsuccessful case against Bristol University.
James Esses vs Metanoia Institute, the UK Council for Psychotherapy & Pamela Gawler-Wright
James Esses was expelled from his five year MSc therapist training course and notified of his expulsion via email from Metanoia Institute (accredited by Middlesex University), his course provider. Esses had lodged a public petition that sought to safeguard therapy and counselling for vulnerable children with gender dysphoria. The petition subsequently got 10,000 signatures and a response from the government in support of the safeguards Esses was seeking. A social media backlash culminated in his expulsion.
A preliminary hearing considered a strike out claim by the UK Council for Psychotherapy and other legal matters. Our coverage of the preliminary hearing can be found here.
Higgs v Farmor's School
Kristie Higgs is a teacher who went to the Employment Tribunal after losing her job as a teacher at Farmor’s School. She alleged that she was discriminated against by Farmor’s School due to the Christian beliefs she expressed on social media such as opposition to sex education in primary schools and transgender ideology. An article with further detail on the case by Chrisian Concern can be found here. She lost at tribunal and is appealing the decision to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).
An application was made to recuse a lay member of the EAT panel on the grounds that he might be seen as biased by observers. That application was granted. See our coverage here.
Michael Webberley - Analysis of Androgen Patients & Androgen Practice
We did a deeper dive on the determination of the facts in the case of Michael Webberley - now struck off from the medical register permanently. The allegations and the analysis of the MPTS are highlighted with excerpts from the determination of facts. This analysis was under taken by members of the Tribunal Tweets volunteer collective, who attended the tribunal in person and reported daily on the hearings.
See our analysis with links to our coverage of the tribunal here.
Tribunal of Dr. Helen Webberley - Impairment & Sanctions
The impairment and sanctions phase of the MPTS tribunal of Dr. Helen Webberley concluded with Dr Webberley being suspended from the medical register for two months, commencing immediately. See our coverage here.
Allison Bailey vs Stonewall and Garden Court Chambers - Closing Submissions
Closing submissions were heard in the Employment Tribunal of Allison Bailey. See our coverage here. Includes links to the full text of Ben Cooper QC’s submission on behalf of Allison Bailey.
Raquel Rosario Sanchez vs the University of Bristol
Raquel Rosario Sanchez brought a claim against the University of Bristol, for damages in contract, negligence and under the Equality Act 2010 on allegations that the Defendant failed to protect her against the actions of members or supporters of the ‘transgender community’ at the University. The Claimant did not succeed. The case was heard in February 2022. See our coverage here.
There have been no developments in the case - we are catching up our archive of coverage on substack.
And finally on the theme of transparency in public life….
Information Commissioner & University of Oxford
The Information Commissioner has ordered the University of Oxford to disclose the scores and feedback it received from Stonewall as part of the group’s Workplace Equality Index scheme. Following a Freedom of Information appeal initiated by Legal Feminist and Sex Matters, the Information Commissioner’s Office has written a hard-hitting decision that strikes at the secrecy of the scheme.