However, we also heard concerns that suggestions Dr Beth Upton, the transgender medic at the centre of this case, was a “troublemaker”.
Here are the key points from today’s employment tribunal hearing.
Upton ‘troublemaker’ claim not investigated
The tribunal heard that Ms Peggie had raised concerns about Dr Upton’s previous conduct, particularly that the medic had kept logs of incidents with other colleagues.
It was put to Ms Glancey, who was tasked with investigating the complaints internally, that there was “evidence that Dr Upton was a known troublemaker and a bully”.
Ms Cunningham, acting on behalf of Ms Peggie, asked whether these allegations should have been investigated further.
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Ms Glancey rejected that she was “unfair” to Ms Peggie by not doing so and she argued that her specific role was to investigate the incident that occurred with Dr Upton on Christmas Eve.
The barrister said Ms Peggie’s “troublemaker” claim against Dr Upton “flatly contradicts” the junior doctor when they said they had no previous incidents in the workplace.
Ms Glancey said she could not comment on this.
Dr Upton was able to alter interview notes
The tribunal heard that Dr Upton asked whether they could make editorial changes to the interview notes that Ms Glancey had taken in May 2024.
Ms Glancey said this was the first time she was aware that a witness had asked to review notes, but she said it was permitted for this to happen.
She rejected Ms Cunningham’s claim that there had been a “deliberate attempt to create a misleading paper trail”.
Ms Glancey arranged to meet with Dr Upton to go through the transcripts to discuss the parts the medic disputed.
Later, HR advisor Anne Hamilton is asked whether it was appropriate for a meeting to take place “in private” between Dr Upton and Ms Glancey.
Ms Hamilton admitted it was “less than ideal” that this happened, but said it may have been done to expedite the process.
Pronouns row
A number of rows erupted between the legal team’s during Thursday’s hearing.
The first occurred after Ms Russell KC objected to Dr Upton being referred to as “he” by Ms Cunningham.
The NHS Fife lawyer argued that it had caused the witness, Ms Glancey, to use the term “he” in her evidence, quickly following it up with “sorry, she”.
Ms Cunningham has consistently referred to Dr Upton using he/him pronouns throughout this whole tribunal.
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Ms Russell stepped in today, however, stating that she had checked the equal treatment benchmark from May 2025 which agreed counsel’s should use the preferred pronouns or use gender neutral ‘they’ to avoid “offence”.
She said: “I am concerned about the fairness of the proceedings with Ms Cunningham’s misgendering which is creating a hostile environment for the witnesses and is confusing them.”
She said the witnesses were not used to hearing the terms he/him used when discussing Dr Upton.
Judge accused of ‘asymmetry’
Not even half an hour later and the row between the pair was reignited.
Naomi Cunningham had suggested that there were attempts to punish Ms Peggie because the nurse “was guilty of heresy” by maintaining that Dr Upton is a man.
Ms Russell strongly interjected. She said it was not heresy and was merely “equal treatment”.
She said: “Dr Upton is not a man. For Women Scotland doesn’t say so. I am very concerned about the latitude being given to Ms Cunningham to be so offensive in court”.
That was not the end of the row though.
Employment Judge Sandy Kemp said Ms Cunningham appeared to suggest that Ms Russell was involved in that heresy.
In a shocking exchange, Ms Cunningham then said she was “concerned” about a perceived “asymmetry” in the tribunal’s treatment of both legal sides.
She said: “One aspect of my claimant’s case is she has been treated as a heretic deserving of punishment – heresy here is shorthand for someone who doesn’t believe in and won’t play lip service to the gender identity belief system.
“That is not a novel or fanciful idea.”
Ms Russell argued Judge Kemp had not treated one side more fairly than the other, with the judge ordering Ms Cunningham to continue her cross-examination.