Nurse Sandie Peggie loses 'gender-critical discrimination' claim against the nursing union as her team warns the ruling 'makes worrying reading'

Sandie Peggie, 53, a nurse at Kirkcaldy's Victoria Hospital, has lost her employment tribunal case against the Royal College of Nursing after judge Melanie Sangster dismissed all three of her discrimination complaints in a 37-page ruling issued Monday. The tribunal accepted that her gender-critical belief — that biological sex is immutable — is protected under the Equality Act, but found the union's decisions were not motivated by those beliefs.

The RCN was ruled to have acted consistently with normal procedure when official Stuart Fraser advised Peggie after her January 2024 suspension.

Her team warns the ruling 'raises serious questions about the value of trade union membership' for any member raising workplace concerns.

This is Peggie's second tribunal loss in weeks — in December 2025 she lost 43 of 47 claims against NHS Fife, with the judge finding she had harassed trans doctor Beth Upton.