Social worker suspended over gender critical views awarded £58,000
A social worker who was suspended over her gender critical views has been awarded almost £58,000 in damages from Westminster city council and Social Work England.
In what lawyers described as an unprecedented move by a court to award exemplary damages against a regulator, an employment tribunal called for both the council and the watchdog to train their staff in the principles of freedom of speech.
Rachel Meade, the social worker, said she was “delighted with such a positive judgement after a such a long and dreadful experience. It’s been a hard fight, but I feel relieved and liberated that justice and freedom of speech has prevailed.”
Meade, from Dartford, Kent, had sued the council and Social Work England in 2022 for harassment and sex discrimination after she was suspended over her belief that a person “cannot change their sex”.
Meade was given a one-year warning by case examiners at Social Work England after the regulator received a complaint from a member of the public in 2020 about posts that she had shared or liked on Facebook. The council then suspended her on charges of gross misconduct before giving her a final written warning.
The regulatory sanction and employer’s warning had both been withdrawn before the tribunal case was heard.
A judge ruled in January that the regulator and council had subjected her to harassment over her gender-critical beliefs by threatening her with fitness-to-practise proceedings and sanctioning her for misconduct.
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Meade, 55, said that she had been “completely vindicated” after the employment tribunal’s ruling. She has now been awarded almost £58,000.
Awarding the damages, the tribunal judge, Richard Nicolle, said that Social Work England’s actions constituted a “serious abuse of its power as a regulatory body”.
The judge said that the regulator had “allowed its processes to be subverted to punish and suppress” Meade’s lawful political speech, and to do so on grounds of her protected beliefs. In doing so it had violated her right to free speech as protected under human rights law.
The judge added that the regulator had a “pre-ordained view” that Meade’s beliefs were “unacceptable”.
Meade had told the hearing that she was “made to feel like a criminal for over two years”
Addressing the responsibility of Westminster city council, the judge said that a decision by officials to suspend the social worker would have “had a very profound effect on her, and would inevitably have fundamentally eroded her dignity, given that her career was very important to her”.
The ruling on damages went on to say that Meade, who had worked at the council for more than 20 years, “would have felt ostracised and stigmatised. She was precluded from having any contact with her colleagues and thereby increasing her sense of isolation.”
As well has making the damages award, the tribunal recommended that the council act within six months to ensure “that all of its managers and human resources staff receive training on freedom of expression and protected belief”.
It also recommended that Social Work England should within six months “ensure that all its triage staff, investigation staff and case examiners shall receive training on freedom of expression and protected belief”.
The tribunal noted that Meade had told the hearing she was “made to feel like a criminal for over two years”. Meade had explained that letters from the council warning about the cost of pursuing legal action had “terrified her”.
And the tribunal noted that Meade was “incredibly disappointed” that her regulatory body had “not even now apologised to her or taken responsibility for its biassed and flawed investigation”.
Commenting on the damages award, Meade said she hoped “that the recommendations for training on freedom of expression and legal right of expressing protected beliefs serves as a stepping stone for positive change”.
Her lawyer, Shazia Khan, described the judgement as “a damning indictment of Social Work England and Westminster city council’s prolonged and oppressive treatment of my client. An award of exemplary damages against a regulator for the manner in which it has carried out its function is unprecedented.
“This should serve as a resounding warning to all regulators that they must not let their processes be weaponised by activists who seek to punish and silence legitimate debate.”
Colum Conway, chief executive of Social Work England, said the regulator was considering the judgement.
He added: “We recognise that this has been a particularly difficult case for those involved, conducted against a backdrop of debate on many issues within society in relation to freedom of expression. Our professional standards reflect the diversity of social work practice and the positive impact it has on people’s lives, families and communities.
“We will continue our work in this area and clearly articulate the reasons when there are reasonable grounds to investigate a social worker’s fitness to practise.”
A Westminster city council spokesman said: “We have received the findings of the remedy hearing and will need to take a little time to digest before responding more fully. We have apologised to Rachel Meade and the points which emerged during the tribunal and remedy hearing are an important and helpful guide in clarifying what is acknowledged to be a rapidly evolving area of employment law.”