Member L Brown Tribunal Member C Russell S Peggie v Queen Margaret Hospital NHS Trust Represented by: Queen Margaret Hospital Ms J Russell KC Instructed by: Mr A Watson, Solicitor Dr B Upton — 2025

The claimant, Mrs Sandie Peggie, is a nurse with gender-critical beliefs. Dr Elisabeth Upton is a trans woman with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. The case arose from Dr Upton's use of the female staff changing room at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, the claimant's objections to that arrangement, and the first respondent's response to the Christmas Eve 2023 confrontation and the later complaint process.

The tribunal held that, following the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland, sex in the Equality Act 2010 is biological sex, but that did not produce an absolute rule that a trans woman must be excluded from a workplace changing room. Applying the Bank Mellat proportionality analysis, it held that permission for Dr Upton to use the female changing room was lawful at first, but should have been revoked from 16 September 2023 until rota changes on 14 April 2024. It found that, after the claimant complained, there were interim alternatives available and the first respondent should have used them while a longer-term solution was found.