Overview
- The Newcastle Employment Tribunal ruled County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust created a hostile and degrading environment by requiring nurses to share a female changing room with a trans colleague without providing suitable alternatives.
- Employment Judge Seamus Sweeney found the trust dismissed concerns and told staff they needed to be educated on trans rights, conduct the panel said violated the nurses’ dignity.
- The tribunal cleared Rose Henderson of harassment and victimisation, concluding the colleague did nothing wrong in the circumstances.
- Judges said the trust breached workplace regulations and infringed the claimants’ Article 8 rights, and upheld indirect sex discrimination by finding women were placed at a particular disadvantage; seven claims were determined with one stayed.
- The trust said it is reviewing the judgment, as the decision intensifies calls for clearer NHS-wide policy and comes after a related NHS Fife ruling and pending EHRC guidance on single‑sex and separate‑sex spaces.