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A nurse who complained about using a hospital changing room with a transgender doctor has launched legal action against her trade union.
Sandie Peggie alleges that the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) failed to support her after she was suspended by NHS Fife in 2024 over claims she bullied and harassed Dr Beth Upton at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
Ms Peggie was cleared of those allegations following an investigation by the health board.
The RCN said it denied all of Ms Peggie’s allegations.
Ms Peggie has lodged a complaint of sexual harassment or harassment related to a protected belief against the health board and Dr Upton under the 2010 Equality Act over the suspension.
She was placed on leave in on 30 December, 2023 and later formally suspended on 4 January, 2024 while a disciplinary investigation into claims of gross misconduct took place.
She said she contacted the union for advice, but claimed it “failed to act like a trade union” and “contributed to her mistreatment”.
Her lawyer, Margaret Gribbon, said the RCN “repeatedly failed to exercise their industrial muscle to advocate for female members distressed because they are being deprived of genuine single-sex spaces to dress and undress at work.”
She added: “Had the RCN fulfilled the conventional role of a trade union, it is less likely that Sandie would have faced the ordeal of an 18-month disciplinary process and having to raise legal proceedings against Fife Health Board.”
RCN guidelines published in 2021 state that members have a right to receive “support, guidance or representation regardless of your ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability, marital status or civil partnership, age, pregnancy or any complaint you may have previously made about the RCN itself.”
The union also says it has the “right to decide the nature and extent of the advice and guidance” it can provide.
The guidelines add: “If, after careful consideration, we find that we are unable to provide advice or representation, we will give you a clear and detailed explanation as to why we have taken this decision.”
A spokesperson for the RCN said: “We have responded to the claim, and we deny all the allegations from Ms Peggie.”
How the dispute began
Ms Peggie told the employment tribunal in Dundee, which resumed after a five-month break on Wednesday, she had felt uncomfortable around Dr Upton in a changing room on three occasions between August and December 2023.
Dr Upton was born a man, but now identifies as a woman.
Ms Peggie said the issue came to a head on Christmas Eve when Dr Upton started to undress in front of her.
The nurse and the doctor exchanged words, although exactly what was said has been disputed.
Dr Upton complained to NHS Fife about Ms Peggie’s conduct after that incident, leading to her suspension.
The health board investigated, but an internal hearing found there was “insufficient evidence” to support claims of misconduct.
