Council facing employment tribunal over single-sex toilets and "Progress Pride" flag usage

A former employee of Bracknell Forest Council has raised funds to pursue an employment tribunal case over the local authority's decision to remove a set of single-sex toilets from its offices under its trans and non-binary policy.

Sarah Holman is set to complain of discrimination and harassment over the council's toilet policy.

She also alleges that the council breached the Nolan Principles and carried out harassment of gender-critical staff and those who do not believe in gender identity theory through its use of the 'Progress Pride' flag.

According to Holman, the council changed the women's ground floor public toilet in the main council offices in Bracknell to a mixed-sex facility with sinks and drying facilities outside of the cubicles in 2022.

Other floors in the office continued to have single-sex toilets, which were not available for public use.

Holman believed that, as the ground floor toilets are used by the public, the change to mixed-sex facilities posed a safeguarding risk, and ignored privacy and dignity concerns.

She raised concerns about the change to HR in early 2023, referring to her own experience of being sexually assaulted in a toilet and how this affected her mental health.

In addition, she said the council failed to carry out a risk assessment or equality impact assessment (EIA) and that there was no consideration of whether the change was lawful before it was implemented.

Then, in July 2023, the council implemented a 'Trans and Non-Binary' policy, allowing trans-identified staff to use the toilet of their choice.

"This policy, too, was adopted without consultation with staff affected, no EIA and legal advice as to its lawfulness", she wrote on her crowdfunding page.

An EIA has since been completed and states that the risk of harm relating to the policy "is not high" as it is applied in a professional setting.

"There are other occasions where individuals of different biological sexes will be alone together such as in the lifts, meetings", the EIA added.

Holman felt her only option was to work from home the majority of the time. She exclusively used the disabled toilet when in the office.

She is also complaining that the council is promoting gender ideology by displaying the 'Progress Pride' flag.

Her complaint about the flag stated the council needed planning permission to fly it from the council building.

In an email to all staff, an executive director said the local authority had removed the flag but would seek planning permission to fly it.

Holman handed her notice in on 20 June. She claimed that for much of her notice period, the council's Corporate Management team, HR, and Equalities Manager "consistently used the Progress Pride flag as their backgrounds in virtual work meetings".

"I believe that this was as a direct result of my complaint and was intended to harass me given the issues I had raised", she said.

Holman submitted a whistleblowing complaint to the council in August 2024 about the flag policy. The complaint is ongoing.

Holman has now crowdfunded more than £6,000, meeting her initial funding target for the litigation.

She is represented by Elizabeth McGlone of Didlaw and Naomi Cunningham of Outer Temple Chambers.

Commenting on meeting the initial funding target, Holman said: "I am pursuing this claim against my ex-employer to highlight the treatment of public sector workers who raise the importance of women's rights at work. 

"We should not be faced with a situation where women's rights, protected under the Equality Act, are being taken away to appease another group, without thought or consideration for women."

Susan Halliwell, chief executive at Bracknell Forest Council, said: “We can confirm there are single sex and unisex toilets available for our staff in our Time Square office. We have single sex toilets and an accessible toilet available on floors one to four, which are only available to staff.

“Additionally, the toilets on the ground floor are unisex – there are separate unisex toilets for staff and the public, plus there is an accessible toilet for people with disabilities and separate baby changing facilities.”

She added: “The council is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive work environment for all our staff. We take the safeguarding and wellbeing of our employees extremely seriously and have robust policies in place to promote equality and diversity across our organisation. We continuously review and improve our practices to ensure every employee feels valued and supported and we maintain an environment of dignity, courtesy and respect.

“Additionally, we are always looking at opportunities to understand and celebrate all protected characteristics as well as educate on differences. This is a vital part of our approach to inclusivity, so everyone feels valued and welcome.”

Adam Carey