Gender critical social worker wins tribunal over Facebook posts

Judge rules sanctions by employer and regulator against Rachel Meade breached her human rights to freedom of thought and expression
Rachel Meade and Maya Forstater
Rachel Meade, left, with Maya Forstater who also won a tribunal for unfair dismissal over gender critical views

A social worker who took both her regulator and employer to court after being sanctioned for posting gender critical views on Facebook has won her case.

An employment tribunal found Social Work England and Westminster City Council had subjected Rachel Meade to harassment and discrimination.

It defended Meade’s right to freedom of thought and freedom of expression under Articles nine and ten of the Human Rights Act.

In its final judgement, the tribunal stated Meade’s views “were not extreme but rather represented her expressing her opinion in an ongoing public debate”.

Tribunal panel judge Richard Nicolle said: “The fact that the debate can often be vociferous, and on occasion toxic, does not mean that the right to freedom of expression in a democratic society should be restricted.”

Judge Nicolle added: “We consider it wholly inappropriate that an individual such as the claimant espousing one side of the debate should be labelled discriminatory, transphobic and to pose a potential risk to vulnerable service users.”

Meade was reported to Social Work England by a friend and colleague in 2020 over posts, shared articles and petitions in a private Facebook group.

An investigation by Social Work England found the posts to be “potentially discriminatory to members of the transgender community” and sanctioned Meade for 12 months under a disposal agreement. She was referred to a fitness to practise hearing.

Meade expressed regret for “unintentional upset” caused and agreed to additional training. However, Westminster City Council suspended her and threatened her with being sacked for misconduct.

Meade set up a crowd funding appeal to take her employer and the regulator to tribunal on the grounds of discrimination of her protected beliefs under the Equity Act 2010.

Responding to the ruling Meade, whose crowdfunding appeal has so far raised £128,000, said: “This ruling makes it clear that I was entitled to contribute to the important public debate on sex and gender.

“I hope it will make it easier for other regulated professionals to speak up without threats to their career and reputation.”

Meade’s solicitor Shazia Khan said the “landmark” judgement should send an alarm to all regulators “that they must not let their processes be weaponised by activists bent on silencing the debate on freedom of speech on gender”.

Westminster Council said: "We apologise to Rachel Meade for the way she has been treated and the upset that has been caused. We acknowledge and accept the findings of the tribunal.

“As recent landmark cases have shown and the tribunal noted, the issues and policy making involving gender recognition and rights is a fast-evolving area. We will be carefully studying the points made in the judgement and considering what changes we need to make at Westminster City Council to ensure the best balance we can to support our staff, service users and our partners.”

Colum Conway, Chief Executive of Social Work England, said: “We acknowledge the Judgment of the London Central Employment Tribunal in the case of Ms Rachel Meade against Westminster City Council and Social Work England.

"The tribunal made findings in respect of Ms Meade’s claims against Social Work England. Following the Judgment, all parties have the opportunity to consider the decision and their options. As such, we do not intend to provide further comment at this time. Any further updates will be published on our website."