Sentinel - Volume 4

Periodic Irregular Email Update from Tribunal Tweets

The Sentinel does not appear with sufficient regularity to be called a periodical its more of an intermittent offering when there’s enough interesting material that doesn’t deserve its own mailing.

Variety is the spice of life; and we’ve certainly had variety at Tribunal Tweets this month. After a relatively slow period March brought us the remedies (damages) segment of Maya Forstater’s employment tribunal. There were several Tribunal Tweets ‘firsts’; we were in the Royal Courts of Justice to report on Helen Webberley’s appeal against her sanctions and reported on our first ‘criminal’ appeal. And finally, employment tribunal appeals are normally heard by a panel of 3 headed by a judge. In the appeal for Higgs vs Farmor’s School not one but both of the lay members of the panel were recused for potential bias.

Maya Forstater - is the end in sight?

Illustration credit to Nina Paley.

Maya shared her views on the proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act on Twitter in September 2018. Six months later her contract was not renewed at the Centre for Global Development and the rest is history. An initial loss in the Employment Tribunal (2019) was followed by a successful appeal that gave us ‘WORIADS’ (worthy of respect in a democratic society) (June 2021) and a full rehearing on the merits in March 2022 in which Maya and her team prevailed.

The remedy phase determines damages and lasted 2 days. The Judge and panel will deliberate in April and damages award will be announced some time after that.

Coverage of the remedy phase

Higgs vs Farmor School - Appeal of Employment Tribunal Result

Kristie Higgs was dismissed for gross misconduct from her job as a primary school assistant at Farmor's School in Fairford, Gloucestershire. Higgs had shared and commented on posts on her personal Facebook in 2018 which raised concerns about LGBTQ relationship education at her son's Church of England primary school.

After one anonymous complaint, she was for reasons including "illegal discrimination", "serious inappropriate use of social media" and "online comments that could bring the school into disrepute and damage the reputation of the school”.

Higgs lost her initial tribunal but was granted leave to appeal. The appeal was scheduled to be heard by a judge and two lay members (not legal professionals). Both of the lay members had volunteered to be on the Panel within an hour of the request for panel members being made. Both were ultimately recused and the judge heard the appeal sitting alone. Here’s an explanation by Legal Feminist of the recusal decisions.

The expected timing of the judgement is not known.

Tribunal Tweets - Coverage of the appeal

Helen Webberley Appealing Sanctions

Helen Webberley appealed the sanctions imposed by the Medical Practitioner’s Tribunal Service (MPTS). Dr Webberley was found guilt of misconduct and was suspended for a period of two months. Sanctions may have consequences in terms of fitness to practice, licensure, insurance and other matters.

The sanctions were given in response to the MPTS finding that Webberley had failed to obtain informed consent from a child of 10 years and 9 months before prescribing puberty blockers.

The appeal was heard in the Royal Courts of Justice by a judge sitting alone. The expected timing of the judgement is not know.

Tribunal Tweets - Coverage of the appeal

Street Preacher Appeals Conviction for Mis-Gendering

Dave McConnell, 42, from Wakefield, was prosecuted and reported to counter-terrorism for alleged ‘misgendering’, successfully appealed his conviction for a public order offence at Leeds Crown Court.

Mr. McConnell was reported by the Probation Service to the government’s counter-terrorism watchdog, Prevent, after he was arrested under section 4A Public Order Act 1986 and convicted for ‘offending’ a member of the public in Leeds City Centre on 8 June 2021.He was convicted, made to pay costs of £620, forced to do 80 hours of community service and reported to Prevent.

A quote from The Times coverage:

Recorder Anthony Hawks, the crown court judge, said that, while he and the magistrates accepted McConnell’s words had been insulting and that Munir had suffered “harassment, alarm and distress”, there was no evidence the harassment was intentional. Quashing the conviction, Hawks said: “It is not an offence to insult someone.”

Tribunal Tweets - Coverage of the appeal

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