What the tribunal decided
The case concerned the support the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) provided during Peggie's dispute with NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton. According to The Standard, the tribunal heard the case in Dundee in September and October 2026 and released its 37-page judgment on November 2.
Employment Judge Melanie Sangster dismissed Peggie's claims, finding no "conscious or subconscious discrimination" by the union. The RCN had maintained that its handling of the matter was reasonable.
STV News reported that Peggie challenged three aspects of the union's response. She said it should have offered legal advice after her January 2024 suspension and helped her secure representation for a further claim against NHS Fife. She also contested its refusal to fund that claim and said an email from an RCN representative to the health board did not seek all the assurances she wanted about single-sex facilities and protections for staff with gender-critical beliefs.
The judgment said Peggie had not asked RCN representative Stuart Fraser for legal assistance during their call after her suspension. It found that he handled the call as he would other cases. The tribunal also concluded that Fraser did not know she held a protected gender-critical or sex-realist belief, and that this belief had not consciously or subconsciously influenced his actions.
Campaign group Sex Matters subsequently funded Peggie's legal representation in the proceedings against NHS Fife and Upton.
Responses to the judgment
Welcoming the decision, an RCN spokesperson said: "The judgment is comprehensive and we welcome the decision that we did not discriminate against our member based on her protected beliefs. RCN staff followed agreed processes that apply to all members and we acted fairly and impartially."
The union also expressed regret that the matters had come before a tribunal and described itself as an anti-discrimination organization that supports all its members.
Peggie's spokesperson told STV News that the judgment raises "serious questions about the value of trade union membership". The spokesperson also criticized the tribunal for leaving unresolved Peggie's contention that the RCN had adopted gender ideology as an institutional belief. A preliminary hearing on September 22, 2026, had identified that question as a disputed matter requiring determination, but the tribunal declined to make a finding on it.
In announcing the planned appeal, Peggie's spokesperson thanked those who testified for her and the individuals and organizations that had supported her throughout the proceedings. The spokesperson said there would be no further comment at this stage because the appeal process would shortly begin.
The hospital dispute and a separate appeal
The union case was Peggie's second employment tribunal arising from her dispute with Upton, a transgender woman. Peggie opposed sharing a changing room with the doctor at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy. Their disagreements escalated in December 2023, followed by Peggie's suspension in January 2024.
Peggie brought proceedings against both NHS Fife and Upton, who has since left the NHS. In December 2025, she succeeded in part on a harassment claim against the health board. The tribunal dismissed her remaining discrimination and victimization allegations, including those against Upton.
Peggie's beliefs, described as "gender critical" or "sex realist," are that people are born male or female and cannot change sex.
An appeal against the NHS Fife ruling is already ongoing, separate from the planned challenge to the RCN judgment. BBC News reported that, in August 2026, Peggie's lawyers said a judge had found reasonable grounds for 13 points of appeal. A full hearing of that appeal is expected in the first half of 2027.
