Tempest vs DEFRA & Rural Payments Agency
Tempest is claiming discrimination, harassment and/or victimisation on grounds of gender reassignment. Central to the claim is the Sex Equality and Equity Network in the Civil Service (SEEN or IP). SEEN has been granted leave to intervene. Parts of the original claim against the co-chair of SEEN and another party were struck out or narrowed.
Status
The full merits hearing is from 24 June 2026 through 10 July 2026.
Live tweet threads
24 June 2026 - morning part one, morning part two, afternoon part one, afternoon part two
25 June 2026 morning part one, morning part two, afternoon part one, afternoon part two
26th June 2026 - morning session part one and part two, afternoon session part one and part two
29th June 2026 - morning session part one and part two, afternoon session part one and part two
30th June 2026 - morning session part one only, afternoon session part one and part two
1st July 2026 - morning session part one and part two, afternoon part one and part two
2nd July 2026 - morning session part one and part two, afternoon part one and part two
3rd July 2026 - morning session part one and part two and part three, afternoon part one and part two
6th July 2026 - morning session part one and part two, afternoon part one and part two
7th July 2026 - morning session part one and part two , afternoon part one only
8th July 2026 - morning session part one and part two (Here are some posts did not load near the end of the session), afternoon part one and part two
9th July 2026 - morning session part one and part two and part three, afternoon part one and part two and part three
10 July 2026 - morning session part one and part two, afternoon part one only
Relevant Documents
The parties have not submitted skeleton arguments but have each done an opening note to assist the Tribunal.
Claimant’s Opening Note
Respondent’s Opening Note
Intervenor’s Opening Note
Witness statements, if we obtain them, will be posted here after witnesses are sworn.
Samantha Tempest, claimant
Emma Dunn, witness for claimant, former chair & current co-chair of a:Gender
David Hallam, witness for respondents, appeal manager following claimant’s 2nd grievance, currently Director - Water Delivery DEFRA
Steve Moore, witness for respondents, adjudicated ST’s 2nd grievance
Nicola Bettesworth, witness for respondents, HR lead DEFRA
Caroline Airs, witness for respondents, now retired, formerly Inclusive Practice and Senior Policy Advisor in the DEFRA group HR EDI team.
Several documents have been frequently mentioned during evidence. We transcribed these by hand from the physical evidence bundle available in the hearing room. These can be found here:
Email reporting Yammer post
Comment by Tempest on Yammer post
Abbreviations
J - Employment Judge S.D. Robertson
P1 - Panel member 1
P2 - Panel member 2
ST/C - Samantha Tempest, claimant
CB/HH - Helen Hogben, barrister for claimant,
AB - Anna Bond, claimant's solicitor
DEFRA/R1 - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, first respondent
RPA/R2 - Rural Payments Agency, second respondent
Rs - First and second respondents
RB/AL - Alex Line, Respondent's Barrister
SEEN/IP - Sex Equality and Equity Network - Civil Service
EW/EDW - Elspeth Duemmer Wrigley, co-chair of SEEN
NC - Naomi Cunningham, barrister for SEEN as intervenor
INT - Intervenor
ETBB - Equal Treatment Bench Book
GRC - Gender recognition certificate
GC - Gender Critical
PC - Protected characteristic
GRA - PC of gender reassignment
DD - Direct discrimination
MLF - My learned friend
WS - Witness Statement
MW - Matt Walsh, 'What is a woman' documentary maker
DUC = Document Upload Centre
CS - Civil Service
COff = Cabinet Office
HR - Human Resources
EDI - Equality Diversity and Inclusion
GIIP - Gender Identity & Intersex policy
GIIG - Gender Identity & Intersex Guidance
CoC - Code of Conduct
B&H - Bullying and harassment
IDW - International Women's Day
Witnesses
ED - Emma Dunn, witness for claimant
NB - Nicola Bettesworth, witness for Respondents
DH - David Hallam, witness for Respondents
SM - Steve Moore, witness for Respondents
CA - Caroline Airs, witness for Respondents
People mentioned
AM - Andreas Mueller, employee at Environment agency, co-chair of Defra SEEN
SMN - Sarah McNally, Head of EDI
BT - Bal Toor, Deputy Director
JH - Janet Hughes
Emma Bourne, Wellbeing Lead
Dominic Berry, member of staff
Geoffrey Hoburton, SH's private office
Press Coverage
Here are links to relevant press coverage about this case. These links are included without comment and are not endorsed by Tribunal Tweets. This is a sample of coverage only - it is not comprehensive. Please DM our main Twitter account to submit coverage from an established news outlet. Any paywalled article must be archived.
30th June 2026
Yorkshire Post - Trans woman sues Defra for creating ‘hostile environment’ for trans people
I still can’t get my head round the pagination and lack of sharing documents. They wasted a day and a half on admin. It’s ridiculous.
I’ve come up with the answer - Sam should be completely, and solely, responsible for moderating any and all intranet posts and his word should be final