UK nurses launch lawsuit, claim transgender colleague harassed them in changing room
Nurses at an NHS trust filed a legal complaint after they were told to be more 'inclusive' after complaining about a male in the women's changing room.
A group of nurses in the United Kingdom filed a lawsuit against a National Health Service hospital system, accusing it of siding with a transgender employee who allegedly harassed female employees in the women's changing area.
"[My manager] was basically told that we needed to be more inclusive, broaden our mindset," one of the nurses who works for the hospital system, called a trust, told Fox News Digital. "The Trust are backing this individual. We need to be educated, which is just, I find that absolutely insulting. Totally insulting. And we needed to compromise."
The female nurses say they first raised concerns about having to get undressed around the trans woman to management in summer 2023 but didn't receive a response. In March, 26 female nurses signed a letter over the issue, and in April, a manager was lectured that the female nurses needed to be more "inclusive" and tolerant of their transgender colleague.
"It's very intimidating as well. We feel like we're not able to speak about it, that we are silenced, that our views don't count. It's just it's really upsetting," the female nurse, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
The policies of the hospital system, which also requested anonymity to protect the individuals involved, allow employees to use changing rooms or restrooms that align with their gender identity. This has led to several uncomfortable encounters with this individual, according to the Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting the nurses.
The nurses said the biological male employee, who uses a female name, often spends time walking around the female changing room in boxer shorts with male genitalia visible. They said he stares at and initiates conversations with his female colleagues while they are changing clothes.
"It's been really difficult for all of us," the nurse said. "Some girls have had traumatic pasts, they've been abused by men. Some of them that have PTSD don't want to be in a room getting undressed in front of a male. It's had nurses on the ward crying."
She said the secure nature of the changing room makes the female employees afraid to be alone in the room with the transgender colleague.
"It's a key press, and you need a code to access the changing room. So once it's closed, it's closed. It's a thick door. If anything happened, nobody would be able to hear me screaming for help or anything. Plus, if I'm in a changing room with this male, we could say either thing about each other. I could say this happened. He could say this happened, and nobody would know what the truth was. So, in order to protect myself, I actually remove myself from the area and I'm now changing in a disabled toilet [stall]," she said.
Another nurse, who was sexually abused as a child, said her transgender colleague was half-naked and approached her asking repeatedly why she wasn't getting changed.
"Flight or fight mode kicked in, but I felt glued to my seat, I could not move. My hands started to sweat. I was petrified and felt sick and began hyperventilating. At this stage I did not know who he was, all I knew was there was a man watching me and asking me why I was not getting undressed," this nurse says in a press release.
"I was not going to get undressed, but I could not move. I was close to tears. I started playing a game on my phone to distract myself, but then I heard the click of the changing room door. I looked up and he was gone. I was terrified that he was going to do something to me," she continued.
An international nurse on the team said she started wearing a vest and leggings to maintain modesty around her trans colleague.
The nurses also said the trans worker claimed to have stopped taking female hormones to get a girlfriend pregnant.
The female nurses told management in their March letter that the workplace situation had become "intolerable." They claim the hospital ignored their complaints for nearly a year until that informal meeting in April where the nurses were told to be more inclusive.
They are suing the NHS trust on the basis of sexual harassment and sex discrimination.
"This NHS trust is putting a dangerous and discredited transgender ideology ahead of staff and patient safety, not to mention biological reality. We are concerned that what the nurses here are experiencing is just the tip of the iceberg. How many more people across the NHS, in other professions and in public places are having to go through similar experiences?" Christian Legal Centre Chief Executive Andrea Williams said in a statement.
"Telling educated, qualified and caring women that they need to be ‘re-educated’ and be more ‘inclusive’ for raising concerns about what is happening is deeply troubling," she continued. "Instead of giving in to the climate of fear surrounding speaking out against transgender ideology, these nurses are now refusing to be silenced and are taking a courageous stand. We will support them at every step."
A spokesperson for the NHS Trust provided the following statement to Fox News Digital.
"The Trust is committed to providing an inclusive and respectful work environment for all employees. We are aware of recent issues raised and are taking these very seriously. We would like to assure our employees and the wider community that as soon as these issues were brought to our attention, we initiated meetings to fully understand the needs and concerns of the staff members under our resolution policy. We recognise that this is a hugely sensitive issue and as well as taking into consideration the feedback and concerns raised by the team, we are working to adhere to legal requirements and best practices," the spokesperson said.
"We are committed to working together with all parties to find a solution that respects the rights and dignity of all individuals while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and fairness. As our internal processes continue it would not be appropriate to comment in any further detail at this stage," the statement continued.
