In a landmark judgment, an Employment Tribunal has ruled that County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust unlawfully discriminated against and harassed the female nurses by requiring them to share female-only changing rooms with a biological male.
The ruling confirms that the Trust’s policy allowing men into women’s spaces is unlawful and violates the rights of female staff.
In their ruling, Employment Judge Sweeney and Tribunal members Denise Newey Malcolm Brain declared:
“By requiring the Claimants to share a changing room with a biological male trans woman… the Respondent engaged in unwanted conduct related to sex and gender reassignment which had the effect of violating the dignity of the Claimants and creating for the Claimants a hostile, humiliating and degrading environment.
“By not taking seriously and declining to address the Claimants’ concerns of August and September 2023 and of 04 April 2024, regarding that part of the Transition in the Workplace Policy that afforded biological males access to the female changing room, the Respondent engaged in unwanted conduct related to sex and gender reassignment which had the effect of creating for the Claimants a hostile and intimidating environment.”
The Tribunal considered and followed last year’s seminal decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers.
The case, supported by the Christian Legal Centre and represented in court by Niazi Fetto KC has been hailed as a major victory for women’s rights and workplace safety.
The Tribunal found that the Trust failed to uphold its legal obligations under the Equality Act by disregarding the nurses’ safeguarding concerns about privacy and dignity.
Under the ‘Transitioning in the Workplace’ policy, female nurses, had been told by the Trust that if they had an issue with getting changed in front of a man who identifies as a woman, they should find alternative changing facilities.
The Tribunal’s judgment concludes: “We were unclear what was meant by the submission that the policy was ‘lawful’ and deeper consideration of the argument led us to conclude that the policy of permitting biological males who identify as women to use a female changing room was not ‘lawful’.” The judgment then points out that the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires an employer to provide changing facilities which “include separate facilities for, or separate use of facilities by, men and women where necessary or reasons of propriety”.
In contrast to the recent decision in a similar case in Scotland, Sandie Peggie v Fife NHS Trust, the Tribunal clearly declared that the law leaves no scope for permitting men to use a female changing room based on their ‘gender identity’ or under any other pretext.
The Tribunal disbelieved the HR manager, Ms Atkinson, who denied telling the nurses who raised concerns that they needed to be ‘educated’, ‘broadentheir mindset’, ‘compromise’and be ‘inclusive.’
Forced into a ‘temporary’ office for 11 months to change that opened on to a public corridor, the nurses discovered during the tribunal hearing that the Trust had compromised their safety again by refusing to adhere to fire regulations.
The nurses’ case has seen them meet with Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, and receive public support from J.K. Rowling.
Responding to the ruling, Bethany Hutchison, Darlington nurse and President of the Darlington Nursing Union, said:
“This is a victory for common sense and for every woman who simply wants to feel safe at work. Women deserve access to single-sex spaces without fear or intimidation. Forcing us to undress in front of a man was not only degrading but dangerous. Today’s ruling sends a clear message: the NHS cannot ignore women’s rights in the name of ideology.
“We stood up because we knew this was wrong. No woman should be forced to choose between her job and her safety. This ruling is a turning point, and we will keep fighting until every woman in the NHS is guaranteed the dignity and protection she deserves.”
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which supported the nurses, added:
“This judgment exposes the extent to which the NHS hierarchy has been captured by extreme gender ideology and its willingness to sacrifice women’s safety and dignity in order to uphold it. Allowing a man into a female-only space because he claims to be a woman violates human dignity, common sense, the law of the land and biblical truth.
“The NHS and the government should now give up their sabotage of clear judicial decisions and abide by the law which acknowledges that men are men and women are women.”
The Tribunal’s decision comes amid growing national concern about NHS policies that prioritise gender identity over sex-based protections.
Equalities Minister, Bridget Phillipson, has continued to refuse to publish lawful new guidance on single-sex spaces by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
Timeline for the case:
2023:
- July: The female nurses raised serious concerns with management about having to share the changing room with ‘Rose.’
2024:
- March: 26 nurses sign a letter to the Trust raising cultural sensitivity and abuse concerns. The Trust refuses to act and dismisses their concerns, telling them to “broaden their mindset,” “be educated,” and compromise because “Rose identifies as a woman”.
- 28 May: Nurses file their case with the Newcastle Employment Tribunal.
- June: The nurses publicly launch their case against the County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, citing sexual harassment and sex discrimination for being forced to share a female changing room with a biological male identifying as female, known as “Rose”.
- July: The nurses are informed by management that their ward manager’s office was being cleared out and would become a ‘temporary’ locker room for anyone uncomfortable getting undressed in front of a man.
- 3 October: Nurses launch the Darlington Nursing Union (DNU) to protect the rights and safety of women in the workplace.
- 24 October: The nurses meet Wes Streeting to discuss their case. He says he believes something has ‘gone wrong in our society’ on these issues, that ‘we have created an unnecessary conflict’ and that society has moved backwards on equality.
- November: Nurses send draft guidance to Wes Streeting for protecting women and ensuring access to safe single-sex spaces in the NHS.
- 2 December: Claire Coutinho, the Shadow Equalities Minister, meets with the nurses and says equality and diversity policies need revising, not just in the NHS, but in workplaces across the country.
2025:
- 20 January: Legal proceedings begin with a preliminary hearing in Newcastle addressing a last-ditch attempt by the Trust to have media reporting restrictions placed on the identity of ‘Rose’. The nurses gave evidence that they were ‘intimidated’ by ‘Rose’ after launching legal action.
- 27 January: The judge rejects the application for reporting restrictions, concluding: “I am not satisfied that [the Trust] or [Rose] have established a case which meets the threshold for granting an order, or that any such order would be proportionate.”
- 24 March: Nurses meet Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, who says: “There is no place for gender ideology in the NHS. These brave nurses have my full support in their fight to restore common sense to an environment where single sex spaces should be non-negotiable.”
- 27 March: The Royal College of Nursing writes to the Darlington Trust, telling them that they are acting unlawfully and need to provide single-sex changing facilities “without delay”.
- 2 April: Employment Judge Stuart Robertson adjourns the nurses’ case to October, saying if the Trust does not now comply with proceedings, “it does so at its peril”.
- 3 April: The Director of Workforce at the Trust re-published the ‘Transitioning in the Workplace Policy’, reiterating that a biological man can use the women’s changing rooms.
- 16 April: Supreme Court delivers its landmark ruling on the For Women Scotland’s ‘What is a Woman’ case with implications for the Nurses’ case.
- May: One of the nurses, Karen, goes public with her story and exposes how ‘Rose’ intimidated and traumatised her by harassing her in the changing rooms and making her experience PTSD from sexual abuse as a child.
- 13 October: Christian Concern reveals four of the Darlington Nurses – Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Annice Grundy and Tracey Hooper – have been reported to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the police for ‘transphobia’ and ‘hate crime’. Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the nurses submit a detailed legal response to the NMC, arguing that the complaints are ideologically driven, legally baseless, and amount to unlawful victimisation.
- 20 October: The Newcastle Employment Tribunal begins hearing the Darlington Nurses case.
- 22 October: Karen Danson, a staff nurse at Darlington Memorial Hospital, gives a powerful and deeply personal witness testimony at the start of the Employment Tribunal hearing, sharing the traumatic locker room incident with ‘Rose’.
- 23 October: Nurse Bethany Hutchison gives evidence at the Newcastle Employment Tribunal, sharing how she was compelled to act in defence of her vulnerable colleagues in light of the ‘institutional neglect’ of female staff by the NHS.
- 27 October: Nurses testify to ‘deep male voice’ of trans colleague.
- 29 October: NHS Foundation Trust’s Director of Workforce, Andrew Thacker, admits that the Trust had ‘not considered’ the ‘risk, health, safety or wellbeing’ of the nurses who had raised concerns.
- 11 November: Following a 3-week trial, the barristers make their closing speeches and exchange written submissions.
