Social worker wins £63,000 discrimination payout over 'offensive' comments about colleague’s ‘gender neutral’ daschund
17 September 2024, 12:51 | Updated: 17 September 2024, 13:55
A social worker has won a £63,000 payout over discriminating comments made about colleague’s ‘gender neutral’ daschund.
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Elizabeth Pitt, 62, was reprimanded by Cambridgeshire County Council for expressing "gender critical" views at a meeting held by the authority’s LGBT+ employee group.
The council worker is said to have made “non-inclusive and transphobic” remarks about a male co-worker's dog - comments the council said were “particularly inappropriate and ill-judged”.
A judge heard how a disagreement over the man's "gender-fluid' dachshund in January 2023 led Ms Pitt to express "nasty opinions" over a video meeting.
On one occasion, Ms Pitt's colleague put a dress on his dog in order to provoke “debate about gender”, the tribunal heard.
Following a number of complaints about Ms Pitt's behaviour during a meeting, the council drafted a report, which deemed to her remarks to be "offensive" in nature.
Ms Pitt and another lesbian co-worker are said to have negatively responded to the “gender-fluid” dog, sharing critical views of the terminology and its application.
Comments made by the pair were also said to include remarks about transgender people’s participation in women’s sport, as well as the use of female-only spaces.
Council managers informed Ms Pitt of multiple complaints made against her in April 2023, explaining that co-workers had expressed issues with “some views” expressed during the video meeting.
Formal complaints submitted by colleagues deemed Ms Pitt's comments “offensive” and that she expressed “nasty opinions" during the call.
Another complaint said she used a “really aggressive tone” when making the remarks.
Ms Pitt denied aggressive behaviour but did accepted she could be “quite direct” on occasion.
Asked whether she believed the LGBT+ group was an “appropriate place” to express such opinions, she replied: “What was the group for, if it was not for that type of discussion?”
Taking Cambridshire County Council to an employment tribunal, the judge heard that she was told the remarks caused a “detrimental impact on the mental health and well-being of the complainants”.
However, after hearing the evidence, employment judge Paul Michell ruled that documents submitted “unambiguously show” that Ms Pitt was treated in the way she was because of her opinions which amounted to freedom of speech.
As a result, the authority accepted that her gender-critical opinions consisted of a “philosophical belief” and ultimately accepted liability.
The verdict saw Ms Pitt awarded her £30,000 in loss of earnings, as well as £22,000 in compensation for injury to feelings, amounting to £55,910 including interest.
“Let’s hope that other employers will start to learn that it’s a bad idea to try to stop lesbians asserting their boundaries and silence staff who know that sex is real and sometimes matters,” she said following the verdict.
Cambridgeshire county council was also ordered to pay Ms Pitt's legal costs, which amounted to £8,000, as well as being made to include a section on “freedom of belief and speech in the workplace” in all staff training.
A council spokesman said: “We strive to create a safe, inclusive and compassionate environment for people to work in and recognise this needs to be balanced with everyone being entitled to express their own views and beliefs.
“We will reflect carefully on this final outcome, as well as undertaking a review of our policies and procedures accordingly.”
