Originally posted: 23rd January 2025 | Updated: 13th April 2025
Over the last few years, workplace disputes around trans inclusion in single-sex spaces have made headlines – with tribunals increasingly being asked to weigh the rights of transgender individuals against those of women, people with religious beliefs, and survivors of sexual abuse.
While earlier cases focused on harassment or discipline based on philosophical beliefs, recent and ongoing cases have zeroed in on the provision of single-sex changing facilities, especially within the NHS.
The Cases that sparked National Attention
As of April 2025, two high-profile tribunal claims are progressing:
- Darlington: Twenty-six nurses have brought a claim against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, alleging sex discrimination and sexual harassment after a transgender colleague (assigned male at birth) accessed the female changing rooms. The nurses cited distress, triggering of PTSD, and feeling unable to object without facing reprisal.
- Fife: In Scotland, Ms Peggie, a nurse with NHS Fife, was suspended after challenging a trans woman using the female changing room. She alleges that her treatment amounted to sexual harassment and discrimination.
Both cases remain ongoing, but they’ve reignited public debate and employer uncertainty about the lawful limits of trans inclusion in single-sex spaces.
What the Law Says – As of April 2025
Much of the legal landscape remains rooted in existing Equality Act 2010 provisions, but changes brought in by the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, effective from 26 October 2024, are now having real-world effects.
1. Updated Employer Duties to Prevent Sexual Harassment
The 2023 amendment introduced a new preventative duty on employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of employees. This is now in force, and employers must be able to show evidence of proactive actions – including policies, training, risk assessments, and mechanisms for reporting and feedback.
Implication for single-sex spaces: If an employer allows access to a shared changing space and harassment occurs (regardless of the gender of the alleged perpetrator), they could now be penalised not only for the act itself but also for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent it.
2. EHRC Guidance (2024–2025 Updates)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance on single-sex services remains in place, allowing organisations to lawfully exclude trans people from single-sex spaces, where this is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, such as:
- Ensuring dignity and privacy
- Protecting safety
- Preventing trauma for survivors of sexual violence
Importantly, organisations must justify exclusions with clear evidence – and not simply based on discomfort, assumptions, or prejudice.
The EHRC updated its technical guidance in March 2025 to highlight that:
“Employers should assess risks, consult with a diverse group of staff, and avoid a one-size-fits-all policy when it comes to changing facilities and privacy-related services.”
This update also reiterated that gender-critical beliefs remain protected, following the Forstater judgment, and policies must not indirectly penalise people for holding such views.
Legal Considerations for Employers
Here’s how different strands of discrimination law now apply:
1. Gender Reassignment Discrimination
Trans people have protected characteristic status under the Equality Act 2010. Exclusion from facilities can be lawful but must be proportionate, based on:
- Layout of the facility
- Availability of alternatives
- Evidence of risk
- Steps taken to accommodate everyone’s dignity
The law does not require you to allow unrestricted access based on self-identification alone. However, denying access without justification could amount to unlawful discrimination.
2. Indirect Sex Discrimination
A neutral policy (e.g. allowing access based on gender identity) could still amount to indirect sex discrimination if it places women at a disadvantage – particularly survivors of trauma or those impacted by the threat of male violence. Employers must consider the real-life impact, not just the intent.
3. Disability Discrimination
Where PTSD or trauma responses meet the legal threshold for disability, employers have a duty to consider reasonable adjustments. This may include:
- Private or alternative changing spaces
- Clear communication of policies
- Allowing opt-outs without stigma
With around 1 in 4 women experiencing sexual violence, employers should proactively factor this into design and policy decisions.
4. Discrimination Based on Belief or Religion
As reflected in both EHRC guidance and the Mackereth and Forstater cases, employers must not penalise staff for holding:
- Religious beliefs requiring privacy
- Gender-critical beliefs that distinguish sex from gender identity
If changing room policies indirectly disadvantage those of particular faiths (e.g. women who cannot undress in front of unrelated men), this could amount to indirect religious discrimination unless proportionately justified.
What Should Employers Do Now?
With the law and guidance clearer than ever, and real-world cases unfolding, now is the time for employers to:
1. Audit Facilities
- Are changing rooms open-plan?
- Are there private, single-use or gender-neutral alternatives?
- Are these accessible and equally safe?
2. Update Policies
- Clarify how single-sex space access will be managed
- State how complaints and risk assessments will be handled
- Address all forms of harassment, including same-sex and trans-inclusive contexts
3. Engage Staff
- Gather anonymous feedback to identify concerns
- Ensure survivors, religious minorities, and neurodivergent staff are heard
- Make space for respectful challenge and dialogue
4. Train Managers
- On legal rights and protections for all parties
- On balancing dignity, privacy, safety, and inclusion
- On what “reasonable steps” to prevent harassment actually look like
Final Thought: Inclusion is Not Exclusion
Respecting trans inclusion does not mean ignoring women’s rights, trauma, or belief protections – and vice versa. This is not a binary, but a matter of balancing complex needs within the law.
The EHRC reminds us that:
“When making and applying decisions, treat all individuals with dignity and respect.”
Whether or not tribunal outcomes favour the nurses in Darlington or Ms Peggie in Fife, these cases reinforce that the real test is not just policy – but how it’s applied in practice, how concerns are heard, and how everyone is treated in the process.
Need help updating your policies or delivering staff training on inclusion and dignity in the workplace? Get in touch with our team for tailored support and guidance.
All discussions, including in parliament, refer to transgender, which could be a couple of hundred thousands, whereas the ones most affected are Transsexuals, numbering in the thousands, and mentioned in the GRA.
No one refers to women with a GRC, who have had full reassignment surgery, and like natal woman have a vagina and breasts, and would be put at risk if they were forced out of women’s safe spaces, and into the men’s.
I am genuinely fearful for my future safety and dignity.