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An employment tribunal is starting for a group of nurses who are challenging their health trust over its policy of allowing a trans colleague to use the female changing rooms at work. The seven nurses are taking action against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust after a colleague, Rose Henderson, who was born male but who identifies as a woman, was allowed to use the women’s changing facilities at Darlington Memorial Hospital. The trust says it is committed to providing environments that are “safe, respectful and inclusive” for patients and staff. The nurses work in the day surgery unit and have to travel to the hospital in their own clothes and change into their uniforms once they arrive. If they leave the hospital for a break, they must change out of their uniforms. They have filed the claim on the grounds of sexual harassment, discrimination, victimisation and breaches of the right to a private life, under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The nurses will claim that NHS guidance stated that women who objected to sharing changing facilities with trans colleagues “will not be tolerated” and that they must find somewhere else to change. They claim that Rose Henderson has a girlfriend and that the couple hoped to conceive a child, implying that “he is a sexually active biological male”. In their particulars of claim document, the nurses say that the health trust “permits any member of staff (regardless of sex and regardless of gender reassignment) to choose their ‘gender identity’ and to access a single-sex changing room on that basis”. Their document claims that since August 2023, Rose Henderson has used the female changing area and has stared at female colleagues “in particular their breast area” as they get changed. One of the claimants said that Rose Henderson repeatedly asked: “Are you not getting changed yet?” The nurses claim they have suffered anxiety and distress, that they feel unsafe at work and “that their privacy and dignity have been violated”. The hearing, expected to take more than three weeks, will be held at Newcastle Tribunal Centre. Previously, Bethany Hutchison, who is leading the group of seven claimants, said: “We are nurses who love our jobs and our patients and only want to be afforded the dignity of getting dressed and undressed for work without a man present. “I would like to remind everyone that we are doing this for the safety and dignity of every woman and girl across society and that we will continue to fight these unlawful policies.” The nurses are being supported by the Christian Legal Centre and author JK Rowling has backed them. A spokesperson for the health trust said: “County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is committed to providing safe, respectful and inclusive care for patients and working environment for all colleagues. “As this matter is the subject of ongoing employment tribunal proceedings it would not be appropriate for the trust to comment further while the case is active.”
