Second correction issued to Sandie Peggie tribunal ruling

A tribunal brought by nurse Sandie Peggie has come under fire after a second correction to its ruling had to be issued.

Claiming that the second correction had been “snuck out just before Christmas”, Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman Tess White said: “Serious questions still need to be answered as to how so many mistakes were made in the initial judgment.”

The Tory MSP hit out after a fresh certificate of correction was issued on Tuesday, identifying a further 11 changes as needing made to the document – which had already had to be amended earlier this month.

It comes after a partial victory for Ms Peggie, with her claims of harassment by her employer, NHS Fife, upheld by the tribunal

However, other claims made by the nurse – who lodged the complaint after being forced to share hospital changing facilities with transgender doctor Beth Upton in Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital in December 2023 – were dismissed.

The second correction, issued more than two weeks after the employment tribunal verdict was announced on December 8, does not alter this outcome, but instead corrects “clerical mistake(s), error(s) or omissions(s)” in the 312-page document.

It comes as Ms Peggie prepares to appeal against the tribunal judgment – which upheld her claim of harassment but dismissed allegations she had made of discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation.

Ms White insisted it was “utterly astonishing that so many changes have had to be made in what was such a high-profile case”.

She added: “This will only raise fears among women and girls that their rights and safety are not being properly upheld.”

One of the corrections announced on Tuesday saw the word “male” replaced with the word “female” in part of the verdict while another correction inserts the word “trans” before the word “women”.

Announcing her intention to appeal the tribunal ruling earlier this month, Ms Peggie insisted she was not going to give up her legal fight “any time soon”.

Speaking at a press conference in Dundee on December 11, the nurse said: “Whilst I am delighted that the tribunal was critical of Fife health board and found they had harassed me, their judgment, I believe, falls short in many respects and that is why I certainly won’t be giving up this legal fight any time soon.”

That statement came on the same day the first correction to the tribunal ruling was issued – with one of Ms Peggie’s supporters saying that showed that one of the complaints in the ruling had been “completely made up”.

Maya Forstater, chief executive of the charity Sex Matters, made the claim on the social media site X, going on to suggest the incorrect quote may have been generated using artificial intelligence.

At the time the verdict was announced, a spokesperson for NHS Fife said it had been a “complex and lengthy process”.

The spokesperson said: “The employment tribunal unanimously dismissed all of the claimant’s allegations against Dr Upton and all of the allegations against the board, apart from four specific aspects of the harassment complaint.

“We will now take time to work through the detail of the judgment alongside our legal team to understand fully what it means for the organisation.”