A transgender woman who heads a Scottish rape charity presided over a “heresy hunt” against a former worker who held gender-critical beliefs, an employment tribunal has ruled.
Employee Roz Adams won a constructive dismissal action against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC), with the tribunal finding she was harassed and discriminated against over her gender critical belief that biological sex is “immutable”.
She had suggested that a female survivor of sexual violence should be told the biological sex of a counsellor who identified as non-binary”. She was then subjected to an ERCC investigation “somewhat reminiscent of the work of Franz Kafka” that “should not have been launched in the first place”, the tribunal found.
Mridul Wadhwa, a transgender woman who is the ERCC chief executive, was found to have played a key role in the investigation. It noted that Ms Wadhwa “was the one who selected and contacted who would deal with the various stages of the disciplinary and grievance process”.
Ian McFatridge, the employment judge, said the tribunal agreed with Ms Adams’s claims that “this was a heresy hunt”.
His ruling said that the inquiry was “clearly motivated by a strong belief amongst the senior management and some of the claimant’s colleagues that the claimant’s views were inherently hateful.”
He said ERCC’s behaviour towards Ms Adams created an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment” for her, adding: “The only possible purpose was to make clear to the claimant that her beliefs were unacceptable.”
In a statement, the centre’s board of directors said it was “saddened by the outcome of the tribunal” and would “take time to reflect on the written judgment”. However, it offered no apology to Ms Adams.
‘Tragic my views had ended at tribunal’
Welcoming the ruling, Ms Adams said: “This is a victory for all people who have been subjected to sexual violence who need a choice of worker, and group support on the basis of sex in order to feel safe. For me it validates and makes worthwhile three years of struggle.”
She thanked her family, friends and legal team and said she hoped the Scottish Government, which funds ERCC and Rape Crisis Scotland, would “feel emboldened by this judgement to safeguard this important choice for survivors, as part of ensuring services are welcoming to all who need them”.
Ms Adams said it was “tragic” that her views over gender had “ended in tribunal” and argued that it should instead have been resolved with “fearless, respectful, well-informed dialogue”.
In December 2020, shortly before starting work at the centre, Ms Adams went for a walk with Maggie Chapman, then the centre’s chief operating officer and currently a Scottish Green MSP.
The ruling said this was the first time Ms Adams had heard what she described as the “mantra”, that “trans women are women”.
“She felt concerned that there was no real definition or clarification associated with this statement. She felt it was odd,” the tribunal said.
Ms Adams “became aware early on that people who wrote into the organisation raising the issue were classed as bigots and that emails from them were stored in a folder called Hate emails”.
‘The centre’s view that sex did not matter was wrong’
ERCC staff were told in April 2021 that Ms Wadhwa had been appointed chief executive – a transgender woman who “did not have a gender recognition certificate and was thus legally male”.
Ms Adams was “initially happy” with the appointment “as she felt it would be helpful to have staff representing the range of service users using the service”.
However, she felt those attending should have a choice over which ERCC staff they dealt with as “98 to 99 per cent of sexual violence was perpetrated by male people however they identified”.
“She believed that all victims of sexual violence would almost certainly wish to speak to a female person”, the tribunal said, and that the centre’s “view that sex did not matter was wrong.”
It added: “She also disagreed with their view that it is only one’s personal preference which matters in relation to gender identity and that if someone says they are the opposite sex or non binary everyone should treat them that way.”
Ms Adams became aware that the centre “would not as a matter of policy ever refer people to Beira’s Place or even advise them of its existence”. Funded by JK Rowling, it is a woman-only support service for victims of sexual violence and Ms Adams now works there.
Ms Adams also “envisaged a situation where a service user would enter into a therapeutic relationship with a counsellor who she believed to be female and later discovered that the counsellor was in fact biologically male”.
After Ms Wadhwa took up office in May 2021, she held a three-hour meeting with Ms Adams during which “there was some discussion on trans inclusion and trans people where a frank sharing of views took place.”
‘Ms Adams responded in a perfectly reasonable way’
The dispute began after ERCC received an email from an abuse survivor asking if her counsellor was a man or a woman “because as a woman I would be very uncomfortable talking with a man”.
Ms Adams wrote to her line managers suggesting that they respond that the counsellor was “a woman at birth who now identifies as non binary”. However, she was chastised for the proposal, with her managers arguing it would breach the counsellor’s “right to privacy” and the Equality Act.
Ms Wadhwa sent an email to the counsellor saying Ms Adams’ actions had been “humiliating” and promising “no more contact with her.” Ms Adams was later invited to an investigation meeting but the tribunal found that “none of the emails” she wrote “could in any way be regarded as constituting any kind of disciplinary offence”.
The ruling said “it was clear that there was an issue” about what would happen if a service user asked whether the counsellor was a man or woman and Ms Adams had “responded in a perfectly reasonable way”.
The tribunal added: “There was ample evidence to find that the decision to launch a disciplinary investigation was due to the claimant’s belief.”
Ms Adams previously said she was “horrified” when she received a letter advising she was being investigated for gross misconduct and faced the possibility of immediate dismissal with no pay. The 52-year old took sick leave but, after weeks of worrying, was told she was being investigated for “misconduct” and would face only a warning. She eventually resigned in March 2023.
The tribunal ruling said Ms Adams was “supportive of individuals who are trans” but did not believe that “gender identity is in all circ*mstances more important than sex”.
It added: “She believes that biological sex is real, important, immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity.”
‘Ms Adams made an example of because of her gender-critical beliefs’
The ruling also highlighted that Ms Wadhwa had told a university event that the “best way” to get staff to support trans inclusion policies was to fire them if they did not. The tribunal said that ERCC “wished to make an example of the claimant because of her gender critical beliefs.”
The tribunal concluded: “It appeared to be the view of the respondent’s senior management that the claimant was guilty of a heresy in that she did not fully subscribe to the gender ideology which they did and which they wished to promote in the organisation. This was an act of harassment on the basis of her belief.”
The ruling also said there would have been “absolutely no breach of her right to privacy” to have informed the service user of the counsellor’s birth sex and gender identity.
The statement from the ERCC board of directors said: “We strive to provide a safe, accessible and inclusive service and are committed to improving continuously.
“We are fully supportive of Rape Crisis Scotland’s commissioning of an independent review of ERCC practice. This will help ensure our practices and procedures meet the highest standards as set out in the Rape Crisis National Service Standards, and that survivors receive the exceptional quality of support they deserve.”
‘Harms gender identity is doing to women’s rights exposed’
JK Rowling tweeted that the ruling was “utterly damning” and described Ms Adams as “a person of bravery, integrity and compassion”.
In a series of tweets, the Harry Potter author said: “Tellingly, ERCC chooses not to refer women who want an all-female service to Beira’s Place, the all-female service for survivors of rape and sexual assault in the Lothians I founded and fund.
“Women like me are constantly asked, ‘why do you care about this stuff so much?’ I care for many reasons, and one of them is that organisations like ERCC are demonstrably prioritising gender ideology over the service they’re meant to be providing to extremely vulnerable women.
“While I’m happy for Roz, I find it disheartening that we’re relying on the bravery of individuals (mostly women) standing up to unlawful harassment and discrimination to expose the harms gender identity ideology is doing to the rights and protections of women and girls.”
She said she hoped the ruling would “bring about much-needed change” and challenged the SNP Government to “condemn, rather than side with, those conducting the witch hunts.”
