Social worker suspended for ‘two sexes’ remark wins case

A SOCIAL worker who was suspended over her belief that there are “two sexes” has won a landmark tribunal against a Labour council.

Rachel Meade, 55, was given a final written warning by Westminster city council and formally sanctioned by Social Work England (SWE) after a member of the public complained about Facebook posts she had liked and shared.

This included sharing a petition to “save women’s sports”, a post calling to review rules allowing male prisoners who identify as female into women’s prisons, and a meme of a woman saying she was being imprisoned “for saying that Ian Huntley is a man”.

The social worker of more than 20 years was suspended for a year and later brought an employment tribunal claim against both bodies, which she won on Tuesday.

It is the first case of its kind where an employer and regulator have both been found liable for discrimination in relation to gender-critical beliefs, which Ms Meade described as the thought that “there are two sexes, male and female” and “that a person cannot change their sex”.

Judge Nicolle at the London Central Employment Tribunal gave a judgment that said both organisations had not “struck a fair balance between the Claimant’s right to freedom of expression and the interests of those who they perceived may be offended by her Facebook posts”.

He said that all the posts “fell within her protected rights for freedom of thought and freedom to manifest her beliefs as protected under Articles 9 and 10” of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ms Meade said: “It’s a huge relief to be so completely vindicated after all this time. It has been a horrendous experience. This ruling makes it clear that I was entitled to contribute to the important public debate on sex and gender.”