Sandie Peggie's lawyer claims NHS Fife 'in grip of delusion' over trans rights

Sandie Peggie’s lawyer has accused NHS Fife of being in the “grip of a delusion” that led to a “heresy hunt” against the nurse.

The groundbreaking employment tribunal between Ms Peggie and NHS Fife and trans doctor Beth Upton returned to court in Dundee on Monday for the start of closing submissions.

Both Naomi Cunningham, for the Kirkcaldy nurse, and Jane Russell KC, for the respondents, put forward what will be the final evidence heard by the tribunal.

Ms Cunningham accused the health board of a “witch hunt” against Ms Peggie and a “spiteful character assassination” while saying the health board had resorted to bullying in order to push forward trans ideology.

She added that the defendants in the case had tried to drive a wedge between the nurse and her lesbian daughter, Nicole, who had taken to social media to insist her mum had always supported her.

The case centres on an incident on Christmas Eve 2023 when Ms Peggie and Dr Upton entered into an altercation in a woman’s changing room.

Accounts of the dispute differ but Ms Peggie was suspended and put through a disciplinary process before all allegations against her were dropped by NHS Fife.

Meanwhile, she began employment tribunal proceedings, which began in January this year, for discrimination.

The final evidence hearings ended more than a month ago and closing submissions were made on Monday and will conclude on Tuesday.

Before the session could begin, both parties put forward arguments about the release of documents to the media.

Lawyers for Ms Peggie, a Band Five A&E nurse who has worked at her hospital for more than 30 years, said she planned to release paperwork but Ms Cunningham asked Employment Judge Sandy Kemp to ensure Dr Upton’s previous name was redacted first.

While Ms Cunningham refused the request, saying the doctor’s birth name was already in the public domain, Mr Kemp said the name should be removed.

Ms Russell’s submissions saw her insist that Dr Upton, who was born male but identifies as a woman, was entitled to be in the female changing rooms at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

Ms Cunningham claimed NHS Fife’s conduct crossed a boundary into being “morally repugnant”.

Ms Cunningham said there was no legal definition of “trans woman” and that those who “subscribe to gender identity belief” can only give a circular definition, which is that somebody who says they are a woman is a woman.

“But they are wholly unable to articulate what it is that makes a man who says he’s a woman, a woman.”

The lawyer addressed a comment said to have been made by Ms Peggie mocking the 2022 flood victims in Pakistan and said: “Even if the claimant was a racist, racist women have the right not to be expected to undress in the company of their male colleagues.”

Ms Cunningham said it was “telling in the extreme” that NHS Fife and Dr Upton had gone to lengths to search through Ms Peggie’s previous correspondence to find a seven-year-old comment.

“There are many profound, peculiar, weird things about the case that this Tribunal has heard,” Ms Cunningham said.

“You've heard about nurses and doctors who say that they don’t know what sex is. They can’t tell whether somebody is male or female.

“[You have heard of] breaches of natural justice and procedure by experienced managers and human resource professionals.

“Ms Russell's constant interventions about the language that I have been using on the claimant's behalf, despite not having either appealed or sought revocation of your meaning.”

Ms Cunningham went on to describe Dr Upton as “unruly” on the stand, “self-assured, tending to smug”.

Continuing her list, she added: “The board's attempt to have the whole case heard in private.

“I'm not sure whether an Employment Tribunal has ever been heard in private, but it was certainly quite an extraordinary application for respondent.

“The respondent’s shockingly cavalier attitude to compliance with or production of documents, the bizarre coming in and out of focus of patient care allegations, the failure to investigate the allegations about Dr Upton's behaviour.”

The lawyer went on to say that all of these “peculiarities” beg the question of are they “unrelated phenomena” or is there one specific cause.

“I am going to suggest to you,” she added, “One cause that offers an elegant and convincing explanation for all those bizarre features and bizarre bits of behaviour on the part of the respondent and their representatives.

“And what explains all of those things is an organisation in a delusion.

“It's clear beyond doubt, in my submission, that the board has taken up gender identity as its institutional position.

“This is not a rare delusion. This is a delusion that has been deliberately and elaborately bolstered.”

She added: “This is a delusional belief system. It can only be maintained in false reporting.

“Reason doesn't work. You can't support a delusional belief.

“And that is the simple, economical, elegant explanation for why you've seen that the claimant was subjected to the vicious heresy hunt that was the result of her refusal to undress in front of a man.”

In a written submission, the lawyer also said that had the health board been “managed with responsibility and integrity (and even ordinary kindness), the story would be very different”.

Peggie’s legal team insists an equality impact assessment should have been carried out before allowing trans-identified males to use the female changing room and female staff should have been consulted.

In the afternoon session, Ms Russell said an analysis of Ms Peggie’s case “exposes a striking level of unreality”.

“The claimant has been unable to produce any smoking gun,” she told the tribunal.

“She is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

“It is clear that the thrust of her case is really what can only be described as a gender critical campaigning position.”

Ms Russell added: “Trans people form a small population group — less than half a per cent — and have rights. These have been established internationally and domestically, and they have given trans people legal recognition.”

Ms Russell will continue making her final oral submission on Tuesday.

Mr Kemp said it would be October 14 before the tribunal could begin its deliberations due to “diary commitments” meantime.