Teacher loses dismissal case over trans pupil row

The hearing took place at Nottingham Employment Tribunal Centre in March

A Christian teacher who was sacked after accessing a transgender child's safeguarding report and transcribing it to her personal computer has lost an unfair dismissal and religious discrimination claim.

The teacher, who cannot be named and has been referred to as A, refused after being asked by the Nottinghamshire County Council-run school to refer to the child with a male name and pronouns at the parents' request.

She was suspended from her role as a teacher in September 2021 as a row over how she should refer to the child continued.

A year later - after briefly returning to teach at the school - she was sacked after the school discovered she had been accessing the child's private files.

Claims that A had been subjected to detriment for making a protected disclosure, automatic unfair dismissal, ordinary unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, direct religion or belief discrimination, and harassment related to religion or belief were all dismissed by the employment tribunal.

'Truth of the Bible'

After concerns were first raised by the teacher, Child X was moved to another class in the same year group "to safeguard him from any potential harm", the school said.

The teacher escalated her concerns and her representative wrote to the school saying "it would go against her conscience, informed by her Christian faith, to affirm a young child in their gender dysphoria".

She wrote to the headteacher that she believes "in the truth of the Bible", adding: "Sex is a God-given reality which should not be conflated with 'gender identity'. Being male or female is an immutable biological fact."

After returning to the school following suspension, A repeatedly accessed child X's online safeguarding file on the school's CPOMS system, the hearing was told.

"She was fully aware that her use of [the system] in this manner was unauthorised, and indeed she accepted during cross-examination that her access of the system was wrong," the tribunal ruled.

Acting on behalf of the county council, barrister Ed Beever said A had also "gone behind the back" of the school's designated safeguarding lead to do so.

Anonymity

The teacher wrote a letter to the school in February after accessing child X's reports several times, saying: "Based on the information I have seen and heard, child X is clearly suffering from serious mental health problems."

Employment judge Peter McTigue said in the ruling published on Friday: "In short, A believed that her opinion was correct and that the approach adopted by the school and by child X and their parents was incorrect.

"That was clearly unreasonable as A was not in possession of all relevant information regarding child X at any point in time including, for example, child X's medical information."

Judge McTigue also ruled that transitioning children should have anonymity over their true biological sex "for life" to respect their privacy and ensure their future safety.

In a statement after the ruling, A said she would appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

"I am very disappointed with the judgment," she said. "It misrepresents the facts.

"I ask myself if the courts are afraid of hearing any evidence that socially transitioning young children is harmful."