Sandie Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife after complaining about having to share a changing room with Dr Beth Upton – a biological male – at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife on Christmas Eve 2023.

She was placed on special leave after the trans doctor made an allegation of bullying and harassment, and cited concerns about patient care.

Peggie then submitted a formal claim to an employment tribunal against NHS Fife for sexual harassment, belief discrimination and victimisation.

She alleged breaches of the Equality Act 2010 in relation to direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment - including sexual harassment and harassment by rejection of harassment - and victimisation. The claims were made both against her employer Fife Health Board and Dr Upton.

The tribunal found that the board had harassed Peggie by:

• failing to revoke the grant of permission to Dr Upton on an interim basis after Peggie complained, for the period until different work rotas took effect so that they would not work together, as a result of which Dr Upton was in the changing room when the claimant was present on two occasions;
• taking an unreasonable length of time to investigate the allegations against her;
• making reference to patient care allegations against her on 28 March 2024; and
• giving an instruction to her not to discuss the case, until a further message, a little over two weeks later, which confirmed that that applied only to the investigation.

The tribunal otherwise dismissed all of the allegations against the board and dismissed the claim against Dr Upton.

NHS Fife welcomed the ruling, with a spokesperson saying: ‘We will now take time to work through the detail of the judgment alongside our legal team to understand fully what it means for the organisation.

‘We want to recognise how difficult this tribunal has been for everyone directly and indirectly involved.

‘Our focus now is to ensure that NHS Fife remains a supportive and inclusive environment for all employees and our patients and to deliver health and care to the population of Fife.'

In a statement, Peggie said she was ‘relieved and delighted' by the ruling.

She added: ‘The last two years have been agonising for me and my family. I will have much more to say in the coming days once I've been able to properly consider the lengthy judgment and discuss it with my legal team. For now, I am looking forward to spending a quiet few days with my family.'