Hospital bosses in transgender row feared ‘bullying trust’ label, tribunal told

Hospital bosses at the centre of a legal row over allowing a trans member of staff to use the female changing facilities were worried about being portrayed as a “bullying trust”, a nurse told an employment tribunal.

Seven nurses are bringing a claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust after 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.

Jane Shields, who is not one of the claimants, gave evidence to the employment tribunal hearing in Newcastle to say she first worked with Rose Henderson in 2019.

In her witness statement, the nurse anaesthetist who now works in Middlesbrough, said: “About eight months into his first year as a student, he became known as Rose.

“It was a quite rapid change in dynamics.

“People had questions and would ask Rose what made him decide to go down that route.

“No-one spoke to him or about him in a nasty way, but there were conversations with him about it.

“Rose was very open and transparent with us.”

Mrs Shields recalled a specific conversation in which “he told us that he had always felt female”.

She added: “It was a very confusing situation because he was married to a woman.

“He told us he was not going down the full transition route (a sex change operation) and when he was asked why, he told us that he wanted to father a child with his wife.

“He said he wanted to wait until his wife was pregnant.

“He also told us he did not consider himself to be a lesbian.

“It was a confusing time for people.

“It was not for us to judge, but there were a lot of mixed signals and miscommunication between colleagues.”

Mrs Shields said she became aware that Rose Henderson had begun to use the female changing rooms and she “felt extremely uncomfortable” about it.

Mrs Shields said in her witness statement: “My assessment is that 80% of the female staff at the time were not happy that Rose was permitted to change in our changing rooms.

“The majority of the people that I spoke to were not happy with it.”

She said she asked her manager “why we were expected to share our changing room with a male?”

Mrs Shields continued: “Her answer was that we have to be shown to be ‘a diverse and accepting Trust’.

“I was aware that in the recent past we had a reputation of being a bullying environment for students and that students were refusing to come to Darlington as a result.”

Mrs Shields said there was an internal investigation into allegations around five years ago, adding: “I think they just did not want to upset the apple cart or be portrayed as a ‘bullying’ trust.

Kirsten Coutts, who has worked at Darlington Memorial Hospital since 2008, was one of 26 nurses to sign a letter to the trust’s HR department in March 2024 expressing concerns about transgender colleagues using the female changing rooms.

She said she did not know Rose Henderson or use the same changing room but found the situation “unacceptable”.

In her statement, she said: “When we look after patients, we are not allowed put transgender patients together with biological women at any point in their stay at the hospital.

“They are always placed in a side room.

“This is obviously a sensible rule and it is not reasonable or fair to deny the same right to privacy to the Trust’s own staff.”

In August last year, Ms Coutts was informed that Rose Henderson had lodged a grievance against the 26 nurses who had signed the letter, alleging they were guilty of “direct discrimination and harassment that has created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment, due to my protected characteristics”.

Ms Coutts said: “I was quite surprised and taken aback that a grievance was issued against me.

“At this point I had never met RH nor even knew what RH looked like.

“Furthermore, the letter that I signed was not addressed to RH – it was addressed to the Director of Workforce.

“In response I was officially accused of personally creating ‘an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment’ for RH and threatened with disciplinary action.

“I understood the Trust to be effectively saying that we had no right to an opinion on this issue.”

Andrew Thacker, director of workforce at the trust, gave evidence on behalf of the respondents.

Niazi Fetto KC, for the claimants, asked him: “Is it legitimate for female employees to expect a female-only changing room to be somewhere she could change without encountering a biological man?”

Mr Thacker said: “I guess that would be accepted.”

Mr Fetto asked if female employees might be fearful of a larger-built man getting changed in the same area.

Mr Thacker said: “For me it would depend on whether the individual concerned presented as a man and was threatening in any way towards the females, and that’s not my understanding of the situation we are talking about.”

The tribunal continues.