Peggie, an experienced nurse, took NHS Fife to an employment tribunal after refusing to share a changing room with a transgender colleague.
13:11, 08 Dec 2025
Sandie Peggie(Image: PA)
Sandie Peggie was harassed by NHS Fife in a row over sharing a staff changing room with a trans colleague, an employment tribunal has found in a landmark legal ruling.
Bosses at the embattled health board are now facing calls to resign, with one MP claiming
The nurse, who has 30 years’ experience, took the health board to a tribunal after refusing to share a Kirkcaldy hospital changing room with Dr Beth Upton.
Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife bosses after she complained about Dr Upton using the female changing room at the A&E department in Victoria Hospital following a row in December 2023.
She argued that having to get changed beside Dr Beth Upton – a biological male who identifies as a woman – amounted to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act.
NHS guidance at the time stated said transgender men and women were allowed to use the changing rooms that aligned with their declared gender identity.
Upon had told the tribunal she had been left feeling “distressed” and “afraid” after being told by Peggie not to use the women’s changing rooms at work.
The case became one of the most high-profile in the UK when it heard from 20 witnesses in sessions that took place in February and July.
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In a ruling issued today, the tribunal found Peggie had been harassed by her employers.
It said NHS Fife had “failed to revoke the grant of permission to Dr Upton on an interim basis after Mrs Peggie complained, for the period until different work rotas took effect so that they would not work together, as a result of which Dr Upton was in the changing room when the claimant was present on two occasions”.
The tribunal also criticised the board for raising patient care allegations during the dispute and wrongly restricting what Peggie could say about the case.
In a statement, Peggie said: “I am beyond relieved and delighted that the Tribunal has found that my employer harassed me after I complained about having to share a female only changing room with a male colleague.
“The last two years have been agonising for me and my family. I will have much more to say in the coming days once I’ve been able to properly consider the lengthy judgment and discuss it with my legal team. For now, I am looking forward to spending a quiet few days with my family.”
Margaret Gribbon, Peggie’s solicitor, said: “The tribunal’s finding that Fife Health Board harassed Sandie Peggie is a huge win for a tenacious and courageous woman standing up for her sex-based rights.
“This has been an extraordinarily lengthy and complex legal case. After hearing evidence for over a month from some 21 witnesses and considering just under 3,000 pages of productions, the Tribunal has today delivered a 318 page judgment.
“Due to the length of the judgment and the fact the legal team only received it this morning at 10am, we will not be in a position to make substantive comments on it today and will do so later this week.”
Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid said: “What happened to Sandie Peggie was a disgrace.
“Harassment enabled by an NHS culture warped by ideology and fostered by a Scottish Government that has let this virus spread through our institutions.
“Those in NHS Fife who played any part in this cannot stay in post. They’re a risk to public trust and patient safety. They must go.”
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