An employment judge has condemned a support service for rape victims and found that its chief executive was behind a “heresy hunt” against a female worker who held “gender-critical” beliefs.
Roz Adams won her claim of constructive dismissal against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, which is funded by the Scottish government, with the tribunal finding that she had been harassed and discriminated against.
Supporters of Adams condemned the “abusive management” she was forced to endure.
When she joined the rape crisis centre, Adams, 52, had at first welcomed its trans-inclusive policies, believing that everyone who had “suffered sexual assault is entitled to support”, the tribunal heard.
However, in December 2020 she went for a walk with Maggie Chapman, a Green MSP, then the centre’s chief operating officer. The judgment states: “This was the first time that [Adams] heard what she described … as the ‘mantra’ that ‘trans women are women’. She felt concerned that there was no real definition or clarification associated with this statement. She felt it was odd.
“Once she started work she felt it became more and more apparent that there were issues regarding the way that gender issues were dealt with in the organisation … She described things around the issue as being ‘eggshelly’.”
The judgment describes an investigation undertaken by the centre into Adams’s opinions as “unfortunately a classic of its kind, somewhat reminiscent of the work of Franz Kafka”.
Ian McFatridge, the employment judge, identified Mridul Wadhwa, a trans woman who is ERCC chief executive, as a key figure in an internal investigation that “should not have been launched in the first place”.
McFatridge said the review “was clearly motivated by a strong belief among senior management and some of the claimant’s colleagues that the claimant’s views were inherently hateful”.
He added: “It is clear that [Wadhwa] was involved in the process since she was the one who selected and contacted who would deal with the various stages of the disciplinary and grievance process.”
On Sunday night Adams said the judgment was a huge relief. “This is a victory for all people who have been subjected to sexual violence who need a choice of worker and group support on the basis of sex in order to feel safe.
“For me it validates and makes worthwhile three years of struggle.”
She added: “I hope the Scottish government, charity regulator OSCR, Rape Crisis Scotland and all those in the sector feel emboldened by this judgment to safeguard this important choice for survivors, as part of ensuring services are welcoming.”
The tribunal, which has yet to decide on a settlement, heard that the dispute began when Adams spoke to colleagues about a rape victim who asked if her counsellor would be a “man or a woman” because she would feel “uncomfortable talking to a man”.
It intensified when a non-binary member of the staff copied Wadhwa into an email chain.
In evidence, it was revealed that Wadhwa had told a university event that the “best way” to get staff to support trans inclusion policies was to “fire them”.
Helen Joyce, of the campaign group Sex Matters, said: “Sex-based boundaries matter for everyone, but most especially women who have experienced male violence and sexual assault. By standing up against the abusive management, Roz Adams has helped women across the UK.”
Adams now works at Beira’s Place, a centre funded by the author JK Rowling, which offers a “sexual violence support service for women run by women”.
Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: “An independent review into the practices and procedures at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre has been commissioned. We are also working with Rape Crisis England and Wales on a planned review and refresh of the national service standards.”
Maya Forstater, who was awarded £100,000 by an employment tribunal last year, said that the judgment was “excellent news”. “The centre employed a man who wishes he was a woman as CEO and allowed that to corrupt the whole purpose of the organisation,” she said.
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