Thread by @tribunaltweets

We expect to continue our reporting of Hutchinson vs County Durham & Darlington NHS at Newcastle Employment Tribunal from 10 am this morning.

Our previous reporting can be found on our Substack. There have been some challenges with technology; for example we were abruptly disconnected at several points last week. Apologies, this is beyond our control.
open.substack.com/pub/tribunaltw…

Abbreviations
C/Ns - Claimants - the Darlington nurses
NF - Niazi Fetto, KC, barrister for Cs
MP - Michael Phillips, solicitor for Cs
PS - Pavel Stroilov, C’s solicitor
R/T/Trust - Respondent, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
RH - Rose Henderson

SC - Simon Cheetham, KC, barrister for respondents
J/REJ - Regional Employment Judge Robertson
EJ - Employment Judge, Seamus Sweeny
P - panel member(s)
ET - Employment Tribunal
DMH/H/Hospital - Darlington Memorial Hospital
GR - Grounds of Resistance
IX - Internal investigation

D - Disclosures
ECHR - European Convention on Human Rights
SH - Sexual harassment
SD - Sex discrimination
SA - Sexual abuse
PA - Panic attacks.
HM - Hospital management
RE - Re-educated
I - Inclusive
TG - Transgender
TW - transwoman

CR/CF - Changing room or changing facilities
WS - Witness Statement
WA - Whatsapp
CLC - Christian Legal Centre
SEAL - Surgical Elective Admission Lounge
DSU - Day Surgery Unit

A group of nurses are bringing this ET against their employer alleging sexual harassment and sex discrimination. It concerns the Trust’s policy of allowing a male colleague, identifying as a woman named Rose Henderson, to use the female changing room.

The Cs argue that sharing the changing facilities with RH has caused them distress including a survivor of sexual abuse reported experiencing panic attacks.

A reminder that our reporting is not a verbatim transcript of proceedings. We make best efforts to report what we hear and try to indicate if we have missed evidence or discussions between the judge and the legal teams.

If you appreciate our work, please follow us and consider subscribing to our Substack.
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We will return when we are admitted to the CVP - tribunal video service.

We are WFTCHTJ.
'Waiting for the conference host to join'.

10:15. We have not been admitted. We have no information about what may be happening in the Tribunal. Observers and press are seldom admitted to discussions between the EJ and the legal teams.

We have been admitted, the hearing room is empty; no legal teams or spectators as yet.

We have a full hearing room, no audio yet.

We have sound, some technical issues with a witness, Siobhan Sinclair, SS, who will be joining remotely.
J - SS is in the lobby, one of the issues with admitting her, is that she will pop up on the screen, I'm not sure she can disengage her camera on her mobile. My worry is

she may pop up on the screen and it will be a distraction.
NF - my concern is that my practice is saying how long everything takes,
J - when do we expect to hear from Sharen Trevarrow (ST)
SC - if it helps, I expect qs for SS to be brief, not that I have a WS from her

J - can we get a message to SS asking her to turn her camera off? If not, she can disconnect and reconnect later. That shouldn't delay us.
NF - okay
J -anything further;
SC, NF - no
J - recalls MG, she swears,
NF - you wish to correct something you said on Friday

MG - I had a dispute with the Trust about hours that I owed, after 18 months it was agreed that I didn't owe them.
J - did you agree something
MG - I was off, looking after parents, it was a lot of us
J - it was a collective g/x
MG - yes
J - that's fine, you can take your seat

J - next witness Tracey Hooper, TH, she affirms
NF - takes her to WS, agrees her signature, best of knowledge and belief true
TH - yes
NF - please speak up and direct your answers to the Tribunal, takes her to plan of CR, identifies TH locker,
TH - yes, that's my locker

NF - next, docs you put into RP (resolution procedure), [witness finds doc]
NF - your statement, dated 16/10 2024, prepped for RP?
TH - yes
NF - same bundle, are those the answers you gave to qs put to you by SW? (SW - Sue Williams)
TH - yes
NF - now takes to plan of ward, etc

NF - in your WS, you talk about witnessing RH walking onto your ward, down the corridor and back again, using the plan, (take it out of bundle) can you indicate where you were,
TH - [does so]
J - does it have a number
TH - [takes plan to J (offscreen)] to show him

J - Bo2, that's Bay 2 is it?
TH - yes
NF - describe what you saw
TH - RH walking all the way down the corridor, around and back again, and then turned around and walked back the same way
NF - no more qs from me
J - near where it says alternative locker room?
TH - yes

J - we've seen a photo of that corridor, what is a bay is it a room
TH - it's a room, I came out, by the time I came out RH was coming back round the corner
J -[confirms with witness]
SC - on alternative LR, J
J - it's in red
SC - I've got it

SC - before I start, looking at wits over the weekend, I think I can take them more quickly
J - no one has ever complained
SC - you've been working in the trust since (?) and a band 5,
TH - yes
SC - you're in the same role as some of other Cs
TH - yes

SC - going straight to RH in female CR, you became aware in summer 2023
TH - yes
SC - why were you unaware of RH in the CR before that time
TH - in 2019, RH was a student, would have spent time in uni, and then Covid, training may have been pushed back
SC - thats fair

SC - you say, you've been in CR with RH on several occasions but no personal interaction, your locker in different area
TH -yes
SC - during your shift or at end of shift
TH - during shift, popped back to my locker
SC - so no personal interactions
TH - no

SC - you are relying on what other's said
TH - yes
SC - you said you spoke to A Quinn informally in break room about your concerns
TH - yes
SC - her role?
TH - a band 6
SC - what did you expect to happen after this informal convo

TH - I know that others had expressed concerns, I expected f/u with sisters and management
SC - fine, [directing to bundle], here is the letter, you signed,
TH - yes
SC - you know what it says
TH - yes
SC - repeat 2nd para, RH stopping female hormones

SC - how did you know that
TH - describes hearing from colleagues who worked with RH
SC - and you felt comfortable to sign the letter
TH - yes
SC - why
TH - I felt that with everything that was going on it had to be brought to the attention of management and action taken

SC - [back to WS], para 19, 15 April, Clare Gregory had meeting with Tracy Atkinson, other, CG comes along and says what she's been told.
TH - yes in the ward huddle
SC - where was that
TH - every morning, after we've dealt with patients, we get together to discuss things

SC - how many people approximately
TH - maybe 10
SC - and you didn't attend May meeting
TH - no, my children were ill
SC - all of the Cs have referred to things that other people have told them, we can't ask them, they aren't hear but want to ask you about what Mr Hornby said

SC - does he know you're saying he said this, have you asked him
TH - no
SC - and we don't have a statement from him
SC - were you one of the group of Cs that decided to inform the media,
TH - yes, I was
SC - did you have any understanding that TA had stated various steps

that the Trust was going to take
TH - yes, it was relayed to me, it seemed no sense of urgency, it had been a year, nothing had been done, nothing done to protect us
SC - what did you want protection from
TH - a biological man in our CR
SC - what did you want the Trust to do

TH - remove RH from our CR
SC - you don't dispute that RH had the right to raise g/x under the Trust policy
TH - no
SC - you saw this as retribution
TH - yes
SC - has anything happened to you?
TH - no
SC - it has been some time
TH - yes, but lets see what happens when the

tribunal was over
SC - but nothing has happened yet
TH - letter, i/x, disciplinary
SC - you wrote and said you wouldn't participate in RP
TH - yes
SC - so you didn't participate and you didn't dispute the outcome
TH - no

SC - now onto RH walking onto your ward,
TH - yes
SC - CH said that RH did this every couple of weeks but you've only seen once
TH - yes, that's correct
SC - you say you approached ortho colleagues to ask if RH had approached them for patient info

TH - he had no reason to be on the ward, if using as a shortcut, would have gone through the doors,
SC - are you sufficiently open minded that if RH gives a reason, there might be a reason for RH to be there
TH - I can't think of a reason.
SC - that's all from me.

J - bear with me one moment to see if I have any qs

J - any re-exam NF?
NF - yes, the episode with RH on the ward, had you seen RH before that
TH - only when he was a student, not seen him since
NF - you were asked if RH had another reason to be there, if using as a shortcut, you say would have gone through double doors,

NF - [holds up plan] is this where the double doors are
[discussion of routes, etc]
NF - we've looked at this plan and talked with wits several times, what goes on in these corridors
TH - patients on trollies, staff, going to various rooms, its a busy area.
J - thank you

that completes your evidence. You may take your seat.
J - I don't know if we have ST but I can see SS, can we take SS, any problems with that
SC - none for me
J - SS, can you hear me
SS - yes
J - is it Miss
SS - yes,
J - I'm EJ Sweeny, you can see I'm sitting with 2 members

J - I'm justing going to explain this to you, it must be like arriving at a party after everyone has had a few drinks, now moving the camera so that you can see the room, focus on NF [introduces self] and then to SC [introduces self] and redirects camera to me.

J - you're going to affirm, please repeat these words after me, [reads out affirmation, repeated by SS] Thank you. Will now redirect camera to NH so he can introduce your evidence.
NF - you have your WS, dated 26 Oct 2025,
SS - yes,
NF - 4 pages long
SS - yes, only have on

mobile, but 4 pages
NF - statement of truth on bottom of last page, underneath we see your name typed, can we treat as e-signature
SS - ?
J - we'll treat that as yes, not concerned
NH - [has witness afirm truth] now turning you over to SC

SC - you retired from Trust in Spring 2022, in your WS, you say 'shortly before I retired, I was told by friends of RH in theatre' and they you repeat what they said
SS - yes
SC - did you confirm that was true with RH
SS - ???
SC - did you ever check with RH that it was true

SS - I didn't have a r'ship with RH, where that question would have been appropriate, asking him that question would have been quite impertinent
SC - thank you, you say that info travels around the dept very quickly, you drop it into a pool and it circulates back to you by end

of shift
SS - yes, but I can't say when that info was released into the depte
SC - you say 'the issue is about a man in the CR and you didn't want to make it personal against RH' is that still your position
SS - I didn't want to make it personal with him but he's a man and

shouldn't be in the women's CR
SC - no more qs
J - any more qs NF
NF - no
J - thank you, I'm glad you didn't have to come down from Scotland for 5 minutes of evidence, you're finished now,
SS - thank you very much Judge
J - I think it's time for a break, but do we have ST,

ST - hello,
J - is that ST
ST - yes,
J - does intro, have you been online listening
ST - yes
J - could you hear how SS was giving evidence
ST - yes
J we don't need to do intros again, you will affirm?
ST - yes
[J takes through affirmation]

J - thank you, camera will redirect to NF,
NF - can you hear me
SS - yes I can,
NF - there's quite a delay on the line, I will try to allow time, you used to work at Rs as a ward housekeeper
SS - yes
NF - what band is that
SS - 2
NF - you retired in Oct 2023, how long service

SS - yes, 27 years,
NF - you were the wellbeing officer
SS - yes
NF - including with RH and other Cs
SS - yes
NF - what was the process
SS - done every year, but we could have other convos during the year,
NF - did you notes those other convos

SS - yes, there was a specific form
NF - countersigned by CG?
SS - yes
NF - and did you ask the person if they were happy for you to relay to management
SS - if they wanted me to ask, I could
NF - do you recall having a convo with KD about RH in CRs

SS - I recall the convo, but I don't recall if I documented
NF - you had a whatapp exchange with KD
SS - yes, had one recently and there were early exchanges
NF - [refs convo in bundle for ET], so when you had a convo, then you filed a form, and recorded it

SS - I didn't file the forms, I wrote them,
NF - you say you wrote the forms, then what happened to them,
SS - I handed to management, who would file
NF - thank you, do you remember be interviewed as part of Trust RP?
SS - yes
NF - you signed a record of the interview

SS - yes
[NF - directs ET to bundle]
NF - a declaration with your signature, confirms correctness, do you stand by that today
SS - yes
NF - thank SS
J - now SC will have qs for you
SC - no, I don't have any qs,
J - well, that completes your evidence SS, you can disconnect

[unclear discussion between SC & J, breaking up on CVP]
J - now, Lisa Lockey, followed by Jane Shields,
SC - Well, I can spin out my exam of LL, but I'm not sure that would be appreciated
J - well let's have a break, back at 11:40, we will hear from LL, and then discuss what

we do after.
NF - yes.
Morning session part one ends.

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