Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has stated that a nurse's recent tribunal loss against her union should not diminish her courage, asserting that "the usual suspects will twist the outcome to attack her."
Sandie Peggie, 53, had sought assistance from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) after being suspended from her job at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy. Peggie had complained about sharing a female changing room with a transgender doctor, Beth Upton.
Peggie sued her union, alleging it failed to support her due to her gender-critical views. However, an employment tribunal ruled this week that Peggie had not been discriminated against because of her sex-realist beliefs. Employment Judge Melanie Sangster found that the union official handling her complaint did not understand Peggie's gender-critical beliefs to be "anything more than disagreement" about changing facility use and that she had not requested legal assistance.
Badenoch, a longtime supporter of the NHS Fife nurse's fight for women's rights, praised Peggie for her advocacy. "Nurses like Sandie should be allowed to do their job caring for patients, not subjected to witch hunts for defending their basic rights to privacy and dignity," Badenoch stated. She added that while the ruling on the union's failure to support her was "disappointing," it did not detract from Peggie's courage. "The usual suspects will twist the outcome to attack her after what she’s been through but she is braver and better than them," Badenoch said.
Badenoch also commented on the broader implications, suggesting that "the next Conservative government will put a stop to this nonsense. The NHS should support its nurses, and regulators should focus on what actually matters: professional standards and patient safety not silly fads."
The dispute originated in 2023 when Dr. Upton, a biological male who identifies as female, began working in the hospital's emergency department. Peggie was suspended following an incident in the women's changing room on Christmas Eve 2023.
Peggie had also sued NHS Fife and Dr. Upton. She partially won a claim for harassment against NHS Fife in December, but other allegations of discrimination and victimisation against both NHS Fife and Dr. Upton were dismissed. Peggie is appealing that ruling, contending that the tribunal judge applied the "wrong legal analysis" regarding the health board's decision to permit a transgender doctor to use the women's changing room.
The case against the RCN focused on whether Peggie should have been provided with legal advice when she sought help. The tribunal determined the union official did not understand her to be requesting anything other than workplace representation. A spokesperson for Peggie stated that the case raised "serious questions about the value of trade union membership" if members must identify the correct basis for legal teams themselves rather than relying on union support.