1. 🚨BREAKING: County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust has paid £187,000 in damages, apologised, and committed to separate changing facilities for male and female staff following the Darlington nurses’ legal case.
In January, the Employment Tribunal had found the nurses suffered harassment and indirect sex discrimination over workplace changing-room arrangement.
The case, brought by seven nurses at Darlington Memorial Hospital, Bethany Hutchison, Lisa Lockey, Karen Danson, Tracy Hooper, Annice Grundy, Carly Hoy and Jane Peveller, was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, which has provided the nurses with legal, media and pastoral support from the beginning of their ordeal.
The case has become one of the most significant legal challenges in recent years concerning the freedom of female staff to access single-sex spaces in the workplace, with the nurses being compared to the Ford Dagenham workers and being dubbed ‘The Angels of the North.’
In January, Employment Judge Seamus Sweeney, ruled that the policy, which had been in place at the Trust for years allowing men who identify as women to access the female staff changing room, had amounted to unlawful discrimination.
Following extensive and at times deeply protracted negotiations, the Trust has now paid out £187,000 in damages to the nurses, which does not include legal costs, which are still to be decided at a further hearing.
This figure also does not include the Trust’s own legal costs of £603,000, and counting, spent on defending its position of allowing men into female changing rooms.
See more on our website and in this🧵to see the Trust's apology and commitments on single-sex spaces....
christianconcern.com/ccpressrelease…
2. The apology
As part of the settlement, the Trust has also formally apologised to the nurses. They said in a letter to each nurse:
“we recognise that we have a responsibility to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive working environment for everyone and the Tribunal’s findings make clear that we did not get this right for you, for which the Trust expresses its sincere apologies.”
Furthermore, they say that:
“We also acknowledge that in our decision making, we did not adequately consider your concerns, formally or informally and we sincerely regret that we were unable to get this right. In light of the judgment, we have reviewed our policies and the changes that have already been put in place and will consider what facilities are required to follow the Tribunal’s findings in a way that is respectful to all of our colleagues.
The Trust is committed to ensuring that we support all colleagues and is committed to doing so through our respective policies, procedures and actions as well as learning from the findings of this judgment.
We know that this has been a difficult and distressing experience for you. We also recognise that, at times, your concerns were not fully heard or addressed in a timely or sensitive manner, and we regret the impact this had on you and colleagues who have been affected by this process and subsequent judgment.”
3. The commitments
As part of the settlement, the Trust has now also agreed to:
Provide changing facilities, washing facilities and sanitary conveniences as separate between biological men and biological women.
Continue to provide suitable and sufficient changing facilities, washing facilities and sanitary conveniences in accordance with its obligations under The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, the Equality Act 2010, the Human Rights Act 1998 and any other legislation and/or guidance that would be applicable at the time.
It has withdrawn its policy known as ‘‘Transitioning in the Workplace policy’’ (v3.0) POL/PD/0060 (and, for the avoidance of doubt, all previous versions of that policy).
Any future policy replacing the “Transitioning in the workplace policy”, or any other policy affecting the Claimants’ right to be provided with single-sex changing, sanitary or washing facilities, will fully comply with the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, the Equality Act 2010, the Human Rights Act 1998 and any other legislation and/or guidance as would be applicable at the time.
It has also agreed to provide suitable training to its management staff based on the lessons learned from the case and the Tribunal judgment, with a view to preventing any repetition of such discrimination or harassment of female staff as the Tribunal has found to have taken place against the Claimants.
The Trust has, however, refused to rule out taking disciplinary action against the nurses for speaking about their case, despite the Tribunal ruling going to the media was ‘a protected act.’
4. Bethany Hutchison, nurse and President of the Darlington Nursing Union, said:
“We have done this, not just for ourselves, but for our colleagues who were too afraid or unable to speak up, and for every woman and girl in the country.
We raised our concerns because we believed something was seriously wrong, not just for us, but for the protection of all women in the NHS. Instead of being listened to, we were ignored, labelled, and subjected to pressure and intimidation.
This outcome is a vindication of our stand for dignity, privacy, and common sense. We hope it ensures that no woman is ever again made to feel unsafe in her workplace for speaking the truth.”
5. Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre which has supported the nurses from the beginning of their ordeal, said:
“This is a landmark victory for these courageous nurses who refused to back down despite extraordinary pressure from an NHS that has fought with everything it has to allow men into women’s changing rooms and to trample over biological reality.
The evidence exposed during the trial revealed a deeply concerning culture within the Trust, where safeguarding concerns were minimised and women were marginalised.
The law is clear: employers must protect the rights, dignity, and safety of their staff. This case sends a powerful message across the NHS and beyond that ideology cannot override those fundamental duties.”
“We call upon the Health Secretary to ensure the the law on single sex spaces is upheld and policies rolled out across the whole of the NHS to ensure this happens.
“We call upon the Trust to immediately ensure that all NMC disciplinary action against the Darlington nurses for bringing their case is immediately withdrawn.”
See the full story on our website: christianconcern.com/ccpressrelease…
Read the judgment from January: judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…
You can support the work of the Christian Legal Centre, here: christianconcern.com/donate/
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