Seven female nurses who successfully challenged an NHS trust over their requirement to share changing rooms with a transgender colleague are seeking to recover approximately £400,000 in legal costs following a discrimination ruling earlier this year. The dispute involved staff at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, where managers were found to have unlawfully required the women to use changing facilities shared with a biologically male transgender woman.

In January, an employment tribunal ruled that the trust’s actions constituted discrimination and harassment, finding that the forced sharing of female-only changing rooms with a transgender colleague had violated the nurses’ dignity and created a hostile, humiliating, and degrading environment. The judgment was described by the nurses’ legal team as a “landmark” decision.

During a hearing yesterday at Newcastle employment tribunal, the nurses requested that the trust be ordered to cover at least 90 percent of their legal fees, which would total around £400,000. The trust’s own legal costs in defending the claim have been estimated at a minimum of £600,000 and could potentially approach double that figure. If the nurses’ request is granted, the overall legal expenditures connected to the case could exceed £1.5 million.

A witness statement from Stephen Twist, a former public governor of the trust, indicated that senior management ignored multiple warnings about the risks and escalating costs of pursuing the defence. Twist reported raising concerns shortly after the dispute emerged in 2024 and repeatedly advising caution over the final six months, warning that continuing the case could result in significant financial consequences. Nonetheless, the trust proceeded with a three-week tribunal hearing last year.

The nurses’ legal team argued the trust only effectively conceded the case once expert evidence had been obtained and presented, after which settlement offers from the nurses were rejected. They maintained that early agreement on fundamental issues could have prevented the extensive expenses associated with witness preparation and the final hearing.

The tribunal judge, Seamus Sweeney, has delayed his decision on whether the trust should pay the nurses’ costs.

One of the nurses involved, Bethany Hutchison, president of the Darlington Nursing Union, said prior to the hearing that the group did not seek prolonged litigation but simply wanted their employer to respect their dignity and provide lawful, private changing facilities. She added that the trust should be held accountable for incurring avoidable legal costs that ultimately impact public funds and taxpayers.

The trust has contested the application for costs, but no further comment has been provided on its rationale for continuing the defence despite the warnings and eventual ruling. The case highlights ongoing tensions in navigating workplace policies concerning transgender colleagues while balancing staff privacy and dignity.