I was not hostile in disagreement over pronouns, sacked worker tells tribunal

A former trainee prison custody officer has told an employment tribunal he was not “hostile” when disagreeing with a colleague over the use of pronouns.

David Toshack also told the tribunal his daughter, who describes herself as trans, had fallen victim to a “social contagion”.

Mr Toshack has taken security firm GEOAmey to an employment tribunal, saying he was sacked because of his gender-critical views.

On Thursday, he faced questions from the company’s advocate about his views on transgender issues and his previous social media posts.

Mr Toshack said his case shows what happens when people “speak out”.

The 51-year-old, a former soldier from Fife, says he was dismissed by GEOAmey in January last year for refusing to call trans prisoners “she” or “her”.

He says he was dismissed with immediate effect on his final week of training after being asked to leave a training session where he said he would only use sex-based pronouns.

Mr Toshack says the company told him he was “not suitable” due to his “strong beliefs”.

In his employment tribunal claim against the security company, he says he was unlawfully discriminated against.

Under questioning from GEOAmey’s advocate Michael McLaughlin, Mr Toshack said he was not “some Bible-thumping Christian zealot” but he believes it is no possible to be born into the wrong body.

Mr McLaughlin asked him about his daughter, who he suggested is “living as a man”. Mr Toshack said she describes herself as trans and is using an androgynous name.

Mr Toshack said: “What’s happened to my daughter and her two best friends is proof of a social contagion.

“What are the chances of three children all in the same class all being born in the wrong body?”

He said there are “consequences” for those who challenge policies on transgender inclusion and DEI, whether in the military or in civilian workplaces.

He said: “It can lead to a little black mark against your name so you get overlooked for promotion or, ultimately, what happened to me, you end up getting sacked.

“I’m proof of what happens when you speak out against it.”

As Mr Toshack was asked about his social media posts, he was directed to one where he referred to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as a lizard and mentioned “trannies”.

It was put to him that this is an “incredibly insulting, pejorative and negative term about the trans community”.

Mr Toshak said he accepted it was derogatory but said it was not a “terrible” phrase.

The former soldier was also asked about a GEOAmey training session delivered on January 7, 2025 by Sarah Harvey.

Ms Harvey told him he needed to put his personal opinions aside and follow the company’s policy on pronouns for transgender prisoners, Mr McLaughlin said.

When the advocate said she found him “intimidating and hostile” as they discussed the use of pronouns, Mr Toshack said “that’s absolutely untrue”.

Mr Toshack said: “There was no mention of this aggression stuff until after I was sacked.”

Mr McLaughlin said GEOAmey’s paperwork required custody officers to state whether each prisoner is male or female, and the company’s policy is to use their adopted gender.

Discussing how he would treat prisoners, Mr Toshack said: “I’m not going to recognise them as a sex that they’re not, but I’m not going to treat them unfairly.”

He said he would be willing to call prisoners by their chosen names, but not use their adopted pronouns.

He said the real reason he was dismissed was because “I would not lie and use incorrect pronouns” rather than refusing to adhere to the company’s policy on filling out forms.

Asked about the tribunal, a GEOAmey spokesperson said: “We welcome this opportunity to present our case to the employment tribunal over the course of this week.

“We respect the legal status of the tribunal body, therefore we do not intend to provide any additional public remarks whilst the case is being heard.”

The tribunal, which is taking place in Edinburgh, continues.