Trans-Identifying Doctor Denies Intimidating Nurse in Changing Room Dispute

Court hears that nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended and ‘victimised’ after she raised concerns that male medic Beth Upton was allowed to use women’s facilities.

Dr. Beth Upton (centre) leaves an employment tribunal in Dundee, Scotland, on Feb. 7, 2025. PA

A trans-identifying male doctor who caused a nurse distress when he changed in front of her told an employment tribunal in Scotland that there is “no defined or agreed meaning in science” of sex and claimed he is “biologically female.”

Nurse Sandie Peggie, who has worked at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, for 30 years, was suspended following an incident on Christmas Eve in 2023 when she confronted Dr. Beth Upton because he was in the female changing room.

Peggie, who is the claimant in the case, has taken both the Fife health board and Upton to tribunal after hospital bosses agreed that Upton could use the female facilities after he said he identified as a woman.

Peggie’s complaint is that she was sexually harassed or harassed because of her protected beliefs under the Equality Act and relates to three separate incidents when she found herself in the women’s changing room with Upton.

‘My Big Girl Pants’

The nurse alleges she suffered indirect harassment and victimisation after she was suspended over an allegation of bullying and harassment of Upton.

Upton, known as the second respondent, gave his evidence on Monday and Tuesday at the tribunal in Dundee.

Judge Alexander Kemp said the case raises questions about whether permission for Upton to use the women’s changing area was “lawful” behaviour by the first respondent, Fife health board.

Both respondents are represented by Jane Russell, KC.

The tribunal heard that Upton used a “disappointed emoji” in a note-to-self after an encounter with Peggie when he began working at the hospital in August 2023, when the nurse “looked taken aback” by his presence.

In his evidence on Tuesday, Upton denied that he had tried to intimidate Peggie by continuing to use the women’s facilities after he saw she was uncomfortable, saying: “In the early hours of Christmas morning, I was freaking out and trying to think of ways I could keep myself safe from further hostility … I thought I would put my big girl pants on and be brave.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t as brave as I thought I was and went to the plaster room in my socks.”

The tribunal heard that Upton, who is 28 and six feet tall, used the changing room after he claimed in a complaint to hospital bosses to feel “unsafe” in there because of Peggie, who is 50 and five feet four inches tall.

Nurse Sandie Peggie photographed outside the employment tribunal where she is bringing her case for harassment and discrimination against the Fife Health Board in Dundee on Feb. 7, 2025.

Doctor Denies Being Male

Giving evidence on Monday, Upton told the tribunal repeatedly that he is “biologically female” and that a Gender Recognition Certificate should not be “required for a trans person’s gender identity to be validated or respected.”

Barrister Naomi Cunningham, representing Peggie, said to Upton: “The reason why some of your female colleagues might be unhappy was obvious. You’re male. At least some of those women might experience this as an invasion of privacy.”

Upton replied: “I’m not male. Why they might be uncomfortable with me is up to them. I would disagree that I’m male and would disagree that my presence in the changing room is an invasion of privacy in their space.”

He added: “As a trans person, I’m aware that people hold misinformed, biased, unpleasant, bigoted, or transphobic views about trans people. It’s possible I work with some people who hold those views, and they may be unhappy.”

The doctor claimed that sex is “assigned” at birth by medics and that it is not a “binary” concept.

“I’m not an obstetrician,” he added, when pressed as to whether doctors are just offering their “best guess” as to a baby’s sex.

Upton’s lawyer rejected an attempt to ask about what surgical procedures—if any—Upton might have had, branding the question “demeaning and hurtful,” and claiming it was irrelevant to the question of whether or not Peggie had been harassed.

Cunningham told Upton, “Insisting that Sandie Peggie and her colleagues accept you without showing any sign of discomfort, that insistence that they pretend to believe something everyone knows is false, is bullying or harassment.”

The main entrance to the NHS Fife Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on Nov. 21, 2022. PA

‘Ultimate Humiliation’

Cunningham drew parallels between forcing others to pretend to believe a lie and George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984,” saying: “In the last few pages of novel ‘1984,’ the torturer holds up four fingers and forces Winston Smith to say he can see five. The ultimate humiliation of Winston Smith is to confirm something both he and torturer know should be false.”

Russell objected to this, and said that comparing Upton “to the torturer in ‘1984’ is worse than what the claimant did in comparing [him] to a convicted rapist.”

Peggie previously said she was not drawing any direct comparison to the convicted rapist Isla Bryson when she likened the situation with Upton to a “biological man in a women’s prison.”

Upton sent his complaint about Peggie at 3:17 a.m. on Christmas Day 2023 to his line manager manager Dr. Kate Searle, who in turn sent an email to consultants on Dec. 29.

Cunningham said this email presented Upton as “the victim” and Peggie as “the bully” before any investigation had taken place, which the lawyer said was an act of discrimination against the nurse.

Peggie’s legal team disclosed that she had been sexually assaulted “several times” by a GP, and Upton was asked if that “justified” her feelings of discomfort.

He replied: “It’s a very difficult situation when someone has very serious trauma. I do not think it justifies excluding people.”

‘Contempt for Women’

Cunningham said Upton was trying to “assert dominance” by repeatedly raising issues around language in the tribunal, and by engaging with Peggie rather than leaving.

She said Upton was a “man who does not care about women’s boundaries,“ and had ”shown a complete contempt for women’s bodily autonomy and privacy … in keeping with harassing behaviour towards the claimant” and regarding attitudes to female patients, the tribunal heard.

Cunningham said both respondents “had been willing to sacrifice their privacy and dignity” to “validate” the notion of gender identity.

An NHS Fife spokesperson said the board considers it “inappropriate” to comment fully with proceedings ongoing, but issued a statement saying: “It is important to recognise that at the heart of this case are two employees, who should be treated with kindness and respect. As an organisation, NHS Fife remains committed to upholding its duty of care to all employees.”

The Equality Act is a UK-wide law, and offers protection for so-called “gender critical” beliefs, meaning the belief that sex is binary. But Scotland has a separate legal framework to the rest of the UK, with a recent civil case at the Scottish Supreme Court over the definition of a woman awaiting judgment.

Maya Forstater of Sex Matters, who won her own high-profile tribunal case which made clear that holding “gender critical” views is a protected characteristic under law, gave evidence to the court stating that some men who identify as “trans women” are manifesting a specific paraphilia, commonly known as autogynephilia.

Lawyers acting for Peggie have raised questions over whether the General Medical Council “falsified” public record after Upton switched his name from his birth-registered one of Theodore to Elizabeth on documents. The GMC said in response it has acted lawfully in allowing doctors to register a change of gender since the early 2000s.

Peggie has been permitted by the court to refer to Upton as a man despite efforts by NHS Fife to impose an order that would have prevented her from using male pronouns or terms.

The tribunal continues this week, with a judgment to be handed down at a later date.

PA Media contributed to this report.