The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) failed to properly support nurse Sandie Peggie because her gender-critical beliefs were in “direct opposition” to the organisation’s gender ideology, her lawyer told an employment tribunal.
Naomi Cunningham, representing Ms Peggie, said the RCN was “in the grip” of an ideology that holds that a trans woman is a woman. She argued that this made it “impossible” for the union’s officers to support Ms Peggie properly in a workplace dispute that arose directly from her beliefs.
Ms Peggie, a nurse from Fife, claims the RCN directly discriminated against her over her sex-realist beliefs and failed to adequately support her during a dispute with her employer. The RCN denies the claims.
The case relates to three complaints about the union’s handling of Ms Peggie’s concerns, including her request for legal assistance and her efforts to secure guarantees from Fife Health Board that changing facilities would be single sex. Ms Cunningham said the RCN’s alleged reluctance to support members who held sex-realist views influenced its conduct in each matter.
The RCN’s barrister, David Hay KC, rejected the allegations, saying the union’s conduct was influenced neither by Ms Peggie’s views nor by any “institutional belief or culture”. He told the tribunal it was “not a court of morals, it is a court of law” and urged the judge to dismiss all three claims.
Mr Hay said RCN staff had acted reasonably. He argued that one officer had not known Ms Peggie wanted legal advice or held gender-critical beliefs, while a later request for legal assistance was refused because she had already obtained her own legal advice, in line with the union’s procedure.
The tribunal heard closing submissions from both sides. Employment judge Melanie Sangster said she would deliver a written judgment as soon as she was able.
Ms Peggie previously brought a case against NHS Fife after sharing a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy in December 2023. An employment tribunal later upheld harassment claims against the health board but dismissed allegations of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation.
