Social worker wins £65k following ‘gender-fluid’ dog row

A social worker has been awarded almost £65,000 after her employer silenced her for upholding the reality of biological sex.

Elizabeth Pitt raised concern about men accessing women-only spaces, after a colleague started a “debate about gender” at Cambridge County Council’s LGBT group by explaining that he put a dress on his “gender-fluid” dog.

The council then banned Pitt from the group for her so-called “transphobic” comments. They ordered her not to express her gender-critical beliefs in ways that “might discriminate against others”.

Free speech

Employment Judge Paul Michell concluded that it was “unambiguously” clear that Pitt’s gender-critical beliefs, rather than just how they were expressed, “were considered to be part of the problem”.

The judge ordered the social worker to be awarded a total of £63,910.15, including compensation and legal costs, and advised the council to revise its mandatory training to include “freedom of belief and speech in the workplace”.

A council spokesman stated: “We will reflect carefully on this final outcome, as well as undertaking a review of our policies and procedures accordingly.”

‘Nightmare’

The social worker said her ordeal had been a “Kafkaesque nightmare”, which caused her to go on sick leave with anxiety.

Pitt said: “These people accusing me of transphobia thought they needed sympathy and empathy but in fact it was my rights which were being impinged. This all comes down to basic common sense.”

She added: “I really think a lot of the social work supporting trans children is tantamount to child abuse. I think language is being captured and people daren’t say anything because they can’t afford to lose their jobs.”

Writing in The Telegraph, Assistant Editor Michael Deacons welcomed the ruling following “several miserable years, in which countless people – mostly women – have been abused, traduced and cancelled merely for expressing views that reflect biological reality”.

Victory

Earlier this year, social worker Rachel Meade won her legal case after being discriminated against by her employer and professional body for defending the reality of biological sex.

London Central Employment Tribunal upheld her claim that Westminster City Council and Social Work England had subjected her to “harassment” because of her gender-critical beliefs.

The Tribunal said Meade’s views on gender self-identification were protected under the Equality Act 2010 and that it was “wholly inappropriate” for them to be labelled as “discriminatory” or “transphobic”.