Exclusive:NHS Fife 'humiliation' after Sandie Peggie case will 'lead to more tribunal settlements'
Warning that defendants in similar cases like Sandie Peggie’s action against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton ‘won’t win’.
The “humiliating” experience of a Scottish health board taken to an employment tribunal by suspended nurse Sandie Peggie will spark a flood of cases and force other public bodies to agree early settlements, gender-critical campaigners have warned.
Susan Smith, co-founder of For Women Scotland, the group that secured April’s landmark Supreme Court gender ruling, said the ordeal faced by NHS Fife in the case brought by Ms Peggie was embarrassing and had cost a “vast amount of taxpayers’ money”.
Ms Peggie is suing colleague and trans doctor Beth Upton and her employer NHS Fife for unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment over the former’s use of female changing rooms at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
A source told Scotland on Sunday the total bill could amount to £700,000 - and likely even more, as that sum would exclude any remedy made in Ms Peggie’s favour should the health board lose its case. NHS Fife has confirmed it had already spent £258,000 on legal costs for the tribunal as of the end of June.
With the tribunal’s evidence hearings concluding last week, a ruling in the case is expected later this year. Ms Smith said she was aware of other tribunal actions, but suggested the high-profile case involving Ms Peggie meant other employers would be less likely to contest similar claims.
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NHS Fife has come under intense scrutiny over the course of the tribunal hearings. There have been cross-party calls for senior executives and board members to step down, and demands for an investigation led by a Holyrood committee. However, the health board has said it is legally required to defend itself and has hit out at “misinformation” around the case.
Asked about NHS Fife’s position, and the repercussions of the case, Ms Smith said: “Even if they were to win at this stage, which I don’t think is likely, I am sure it would go to appeal, and ultimately, they would lose. They have spent a vast amount of taxpayers’ money on this, and it’s been humiliating to hear some of the evidence, and the gossiping and bitchiness in the workplace.
“I think there’ll be more cases and I think there will be more settlements. Wiser lawyers will be telling their clients that it is better for them to swallow whatever disadvantage comes from settling, because they’re not going to win in the long term.”
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