It was front-page news when the UK Supreme Court decision in the For Women Scotland was handed down in April 2025. The UKSC decision sent shockwaves within employment law spaces and beyond when it decided that the terms ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. As soon as this decision was published, a lot of speculation occurred as to how this would impact the issue of bathrooms and changing rooms being used by trans-identifying individuals who did not identify as the same sex they were assigned at birth. Since the UKSC decision, we have had two highly publicised judgments on the issue of trans-persons using women’s bathrooms and changing-rooms. We have discussed the Peggie case in a prior article, so this article will focus on the Darlington Nurse’s case against County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. Suffice to say, the Peggie judgment is controversial as it contained several judicial errors (including incorrect citations) and that the Tribunal is widely regarded as not applying the For Women Scotland UKSC decision. It should be noted that both the Peggie and Darlington cases are only first-instance decisions, meaning that they are not legally-binding on all employers (yet). Facts of the Darlington Case In January 2026, an employment tribunal ruled in favour of seven female nurses employed by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, finding that the Trust’s “Transition in the Workplace” policy amounted to unlawful harassment and indirect sex discrimination. The policy had allowed a transgender woman (a biological male who identifies as female) to use woman-only changing rooms, which the nurses said violated their privacy and dignity. The Tribunal concluded that requiring female nurses to share intimate facilities with a biological male created a hostile, humiliating and degrading environment, thus breaching their rights under the Equality Act 2010 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 . The Tribunal also found that the Trust’s failure to meaningfully address the nurses’ concerns and to provide effective alternative arrangements compounded the harassment. Comment The majority of legal commentary suggests that this decision as a step forward in protecting women’s single-sex spaces at work and that this decision correlates much more closely to the For Women Scotland decision. In contrast to the Peggie case, the Tribunal in the Darlington case clearly states that the current law leaves no scope for permitting men to use a female changing room based on their “gender identity” or under any other pretext. The Darlington decision is bad news for the pro-trans movement and lobbyists who have continued to argue that the For Women Scotland decision was wrongly decided. On the reverse, pro-women organisations see this decision as a victory for common-sense and that this was the intended implication of the FWS UKSC decision. In terms of practical considerations, as mentioned this is a non-legally-binding decision. However, it is an indication of where the judicial direction of travel may lie. We are also waiting for very significant guidance on this issue to be handed down by the EHRC, which has currently been delayed. In a general sense, the decision reinforces the need to have strong grievance/ complaints procedures as the Judge stated that the NHS Trust did not take the nurses’ concerns seriously. As always, this advice is general in nature and will need to be tailored to any one situation. As an RMI member you have access to the RMI Legal advice line, as well as several industry experts for your assistance. Should you find yourself in the situation above, contact us at any stage for advice and assistance as appropriate. Motor Industry Legal Services Motor Industry Legal Services provides fully comprehensive legal advice and representation to UK motor retailers for one annual fee. It is the only regulated law firm in the UK which specialises in motor law and motor trade law. MILS currently advises over 1,000 individual businesses within the sector as well as the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) and its members.