Stonewall champion loses Tribunal

Sheffield NHS Trust loses case brought by transgender male.

I cannot quite believe the outcome of this Tribunal. You can read all 61 pages below;

Judgement

A trans-identifying male applies for a full-time role. On being offered the role he says he only wants to work 16 hours a week. He explains he has not worked for a few years and has anxiety issues. The trust agrees to allow him to build up to full-time. (He never actually works his contracted hours).

As the Trust are a Stonewall Champion they immediately notify staff he will be using female changing roles, talk to them about diversity and make it clear they won’t accept any discriminatory behaviour. There are numerous examples of extra-ordinary accommodations made for this employee. I managed 55 staff during one of my roles, at a University, and I was also a member of my union branch committee. I am well qualified to say the employer bent over backwards.

The allegations he made, against his colleagues, were two notes allegedly left in his locker, one of which he destroyed. He also claims he overheard a conversation about his presence in the female changing rooms. None of the people involved were uncovered and it is clear there are inconsistencies in the claimant’s evidence. For some unknown reason the Trust decided to accept that these things had happened.

All of this is punctuating by the employee turning up crying at work, repeatedly being signed off sick and expressing public anger, in front of the general public, about being subject to the standard attendance management policy. Even when he is granted compassionate leave he fights to remove records of his absences from the human resource records.

One woman shows quite a lot of compassion towards V, even helping with his make up. She has to fend of repeated requests to engage with her outside the workplace and to visit her at her home.

V tells this woman that he was so hot he can been forced to remove his underwear at work. Another reports that he was naked from the waist down in the female, communal, changing room.

The poor, fairly junior, member of staff is tasked with asking awkward questions about Vs habit of not wearing underwear at work. In no other circumstance would a case of indecent exposure. in the workplace, be treated in this way. If anyone still think this is scaremongering this case ought to open your eyes. Any man exposing his genitalia in the workplace, to female staff, would be immediately suspended, and likely subject to a police investigation. Why wasn’t this man?

Instead V has won a payout for discrimination.