Nurse left in tears and traumatised after changing room encounter with trans colleague

A nurse in the centre of an employment tribunal has shared how her encounter with a trans colleague in a female changing room triggered trauma from sexual abuse as a child.

Karen Danson is part of a group of eight nurses who have begun employment proceedings against Darlington Memorial Hospital over a policy that allowed a female-only changing room to be used by a biological male who identifies as female.

Giving evidence at the opening day of the tribunal, Karen Danson recounted the incident with Rose Henderson in September 2023.

While preparing to get changed into her work clothes, she recalled hearing a “male voice” behind her. She then saw Rose Henderson wearing very little clothing, and commented that “a quick look at \[Henderson\] left no room for doubt that he was a man.”

Henderson asked her three times in the space of five minutes why she wasn’t getting changed. Danson claimed that Henderson continued to watch her with a smirk on their face.

Danson spoke about how traumatising this was for her, having experienced sexual abuse in the past as a child. She said, “as a result of that trauma, I can’t even sit in the front of a taxi if there is a male driver. So, all I could think about was that this was taking me back to that time when I was abused.”

Danson raised concerns with colleagues but felt that her complaints were ignored. She told the tribunal that she and other nurses at the hospital felt silenced for fear that they would be labelled ‘transphobic’.

Bringing the employment proceedings, the group of nurses claim “that their privacy and dignity have been violated” and they feel unsafe at work.

Additionally, the nurses claim that the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust have breached the ruling from the Supreme Court in April that the term ‘woman’ refers to biological sex.

The nurses are being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, and author J. K. Rowling has baked their case. The hearing is expected to last three weeks.