Woman sues state after being suspended from public service job for complaining about transgender coworker in locker room

A woman is suing the board of Scotland’s National Health Service (NHS) after she was punished for speaking openly about her discomfort.

Women’s rights were called into question after a staff member was suspended in January for complaining about having to share a changing room with a transgender colleague. The suspension lasted a shocking three months, after which she was reinstated. However, a disciplinary investigation is still ongoing, leaving many to question how far some organisations will go to protect transgender staff rather than women.

Fiona McAnena, campaign director at Sex Matters, condemned the abhorrent response.

“Forcing a female member of staff to share changing rooms with a man who identifies as a woman and then suspending her from work for raising her concerns shows that gender ideology is allowed to trump all other considerations. Don’t women working in the Scottish NHS have a right to privacy from the opposite sex?” she asked. “This looks like a Scottish government department putting the feelings of men ahead of the safety and wellbeing of female staff.”

Neale Hanvey, the Alba Party candidate for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, who was an MP at the time of the incident, also took the side of the unidentified staffer.

“This was an incredibly difficult case for the woman involved and an absolute scandal,” he said. “I was a strong advocate of women’s rights before and during my time as a local MP. The woman came to me for help and support.”

He then referred the matter to Sex Matters.

While NHS Fife claimed it could not comment on the matter, it specifically stressed that it was an “inclusive employer”.

“Due to confidentiality reasons, we are unable to comment on matters affecting individual staff,” it said in a statement. “NHS Fife is an inclusive employer and is committed to providing a safe and welcoming work environment for each and every one of its employees.”

The case was brought to the attention of First Minister John Swinney during a campaign rally in Glasgow.

“I don’t know the details of the case, but I will look into it closely,” he promised. “It is important that the legal regulations that have been made under the Equality Act to protect spaces for women and men are applied in practice. It is important that this thinking and reasoning is applied in practice in all circumstances.”

Author/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world full of fake news brought her to BizPac Review.

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