This issue is all about the numbers. It has been more than six months since we wrote to our subscribers, in our defence we have been busy and the numbers tell the story. This is a long post so bear with us.
718 Numbered Paragraphs in 155 Pages
Professor Jo Phoenix prevailed in her employment tribunal versus the Open University. The tribunal found that Professor Phoenix was discriminated against and harassed because of her gender critical beliefs, and that she was constructively dismissed. The judgment was detailed with extensive commentary on which witnesses the panel found credible and which not. The remedies (damages) hearing has not yet taken place.
109 Open Letters and Counting
Open letters are a feature of modern life and have featured in a number of the cases covered by Tribunal Tweets. One of our members is on a mission to collect, archive and index these open letters. She has found many. 109 are currently available via the post below. Recent letters are easier to find and archive so not surprising that the ‘peak year’ for these letters (as of today) was 2023 with 28 letters indexed. There is a genuine ‘both sides’ element to these public protests: letters range from two 14 year old girls appealing to the Education Secretary to respect single sex spaces for girls to a celebrity letter seeking ban those who seek to ban LGBTQ+ books in school libraries. Kathleen Stock, Jo Phoenix and JK Rowling have all attracted open letters for their views.
Indeed, the term ‘open letter’ appeared 288 times in the written judgment on the Phoenix case. One letter that was signed by 368 colleagues at the Open University featured prominently in the judgment.
2024 is looking to be a bumper year as it has kicked off with 15 open letters as of 17 February 2024. And that’s before counting any of the letters already circulating about the election of Simon Fanshawe as rector of Edinburgh University.
Apologies for any broken links - letters are particularly prone to being memory holed and may disappear without warning. We work to reinstate these if possible.
Find the open letters indexed here.
1 Political Party in Court
Dr Shahrar Ali prevailed over the Green Party, represented by several members of the Green Party Executive Committee. Judge Hellman ruled that the Green Party had unlawfully dismissed Dr Ali from his role as a spokesperson because of his gender critical beliefs and failed to observe it’s own procedures in the process. It’s the first of a number of cases with similar allegations against involving the Green Party.
Only 2 Genders
A US citizen brought a Judicial Review against the UK Government's Gender Recognition Panel (GRP) alleging it breached its statutory duty to issue a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) which recorded his legal sex as 'non-binary'. Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing and Mrs Justice Heather Williams delivered their judgment and dismissed Castellucci's case although leave to appeal has been granted. In their decisions they concluded that the Gender Recognition Act when it refers to ‘gender’ is dealing with a binary concept and that the GRP only had the power to issue GCRs as male or female.
See our coverage of the judicial review here.
7 Days of Evidence
R Adams alleges constructive dismissal from Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre because of her belief that biological sex is real, important, immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity. The liability phase of her tribunal took place with seven days of evidence in January 2024. Submissions (oral arguments) are scheduled for 3 April 2024.
40 Facebook Friends
Rachel Meade won her claim against her employer (Westminster City Council) and her professional body (Social Work England). She had been accused of transphobia for items that had been shared on Facebook. The privacy settings meant that only 40 people were able to see her posts. Meade was back in the tribunal on 12 & 13 January 2024 for her remedies (damages) hearing. The tribunal is planning deliberations at the end of February and a judgment on remedy within several weeks after that.
1 Not Guilty Verdict
Sarah Jane Baker, a man who identifies as a woman, who previously served 30 years for kidnap and attempted murder was charged with a public order offence following a speech that was filmed and circulated widely on social media. Baker told listeners "if you see a 'TERF', you should punch them in the f*****g face!”. Baker was found not guilty of the public order offence but was returned to prison for breaching licence conditions. It was a first criminal case for Tribunal Tweets.
Tribunal Tweets by the numbers
27,000 Followers on X - Tribunal Tweets, Tribunal Tweets 2
2,140 Substack subscribers
30 cases reported on
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