Darlington nurses who won case against NHS trust after being forced to share a changing room with a trans woman are claiming legal costs

An NHS trust which has spent around £1.25million of public money battling female nurses forced to share a changing room with a transgender woman put forward a 'hopeless' case, a court heard on Tuesday.Seven female nurses have now been paid a total of almost £200,000 in compensation by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDNFT) after an employment tribunal ruled their NHS bosses 'violated their dignity' by making them change alongside Rose Henderson, a biological male.The decision by their employers at Darlington Memorial Hospital created a 'hostile, humiliating and degrading' environment for the nurses, employment judge Seamus Sweeney ruled in January.They are now seeking £400,000 in legal costs from the NHS trust, with their lawyers arguing at a hearing in Newcastle yesterday that a costly three-week tribunal held in Newcastle in October and November last year could have been avoided.Niazi Fetto KC, for the nurses, claimed that following a Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 that 'sex' means 'biological sex', it was 'overwhelmingly likely' the tribunal would rule in the same way in relation to separate changing rooms for men and women.However the Trust maintained its stance that it was acting legitimately by allowing employees to use changing rooms according to their 'gender identity'.Mr Katto said: 'That defence was hopeless.'He said this should have been 'plain and obvious' following last year's Supreme Court ruling, which was brought after campaign group For Women Scotland took on the Scottish government over sex-based protections. The Darlington nurses received a payout from the NHS Trust. Left to right: Lisa Lockey, Carly Hoy, Karen Danson, Annice Grundy, Jane Peveller, Tracey Hooper and Bethany Hutchison The nurses complained about their transgender colleague Rose Henderson (pictured in November) using the female changing rooms at Darlington Memorial HospitalIt also emerged yesterday that a public governor at CDDNFT warned NHS bosses a year before the tribunal that if the Trust was seen to be suppressing discussion, it risked comparisons with the Lucy Letby scandal at the Countess of Chester Hospital.Stephen Twist, a barrister who was elected public governor on a three-year term in 2023 to represent patients, also advised leaders of the Trust to look closely at the Horizon Post Office Inquiry, which raised the importance of oversight of legal risk at a board level, newly released emails reveal.The seven nurses are asking the NHS trust to pay 90 per cent of their £443,000 legal costs.They are not asking for the full amount because Judge Sweeney ruled Henderson did not directly harass the women, as was alleged.However he said his decision 'in no way diminishes the very real and genuine perception of the claimants, all of whom were fearful of the risks at the very least, to their dignity, bodily integrity and privacy.'The Trust is understood to have spent £600,000 on legal costs fighting its own case.Mr Katto told the court: 'This litigation would never have arisen had the Trust provided single-sex changing rooms and not made the nurses share with a transgender woman.'Had the respondents taken the approach of recognising the weaknesses of its defence on the core area of the case and made suitable concessions and engaged seriously, the trial would have been avoided. The group of nurses left a press conference in January after employment tribunal ruled they suffered harassment'The warning signs could not have been clearer.'Simon Cheetham KC, for the trust, said it was right to fight the case, adding it was all about 'perception' and that 'many of the allegations brought by the claimants were unsuccessful.'Giving evidence at last year's tribunal, nurse Karen Danson said that in September 2023 she encountered Henderson in the changing rooms wearing nursing scrubs on the upper half and tight boxer shorts with holes in them on the lower half. She said Henderson 'had facial hair' and there was 'nothing to suggest [they] were anything other than a man.'The nurses – Ms Danson; Bethany Hutchison; Lisa Lockey; Tracy Hooper; Annice Grundy; Carly Hoy and Jane Peveller – said they were labelled as bigots and troublemakers when they complained.In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Hutchison said: 'We did not want to spend years in legal proceedings against the NHS Trust for which we worked. 'We wanted our employer to listen to women, respect our dignity and provide lawful changing facilities in which we could prepare for our shifts in privacy.'We now return to the tribunal because we believe the Trust should be held responsible for the substantial legal costs that could and should have been avoided. 'This is public money, and NHS organisations must be accountable for decisions that expose staff and taxpayers to unnecessary litigation.'The tribunal will return its decision at a later date.