An aerospace engineer who challenged her employer’s transgender toilet policy has lost her discrimination case after an employment tribunal ruled Leonardo UK’s approach was lawful and proportionate.
Maria Kelly, human resources and capabilities director at the defense giant, claimed she faced harassment and direct and indirect gender discrimination after the company allowed transgender women to use women’s restrooms. Her complaint focused on an incident in March 2023, when she said she encountered a transgender co-worker in a women’s restroom. She told the court that she then began using a “secret” toilet due to discomfort and privacy concerns.
The claims were dismissed entirely by employment judge Michelle Sutherland in a written judgment released on Wednesday following a hearing in Edinburgh in October.
Leonardo UK employs around 9,500 people. Judge Sutherland found that Kelly was the only employee who had raised concerns about the policy, despite there being multiple channels available to do so.
Noting that Kelly had not been legally disadvantaged, she wrote: “Any concern or invasion of privacy could be addressed by affected female staff resorting to individual accommodation.”
The court also rejected arguments that safety risks had increased, concluding that allowing 0.5% of male employees to use the women’s restrooms “would not have changed the overall risk profile.”
The judgment concluded that Leonardo’s toilet access policy was “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”.
The ruling follows the UK Supreme Court’s decision in April which found that “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex – a landmark ruling relied heavily on by Kelly’s legal team.
Kelly said the court “understands both the law and my case fundamentally” and added she intends to urgently appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of Sex Matters, claimed the ruling was “incompatible” with the Supreme Court’s decision in the For Women Scotland case and criticized what she called the tribunal’s “gender identity-based” interpretation.
Confirming the tribunal’s finding, Leonardo UK said in a statement: “Our focus now is on ensuring that behavior in the workplace remains respectful and that our facilities’ policies continue to meet legal standards. We will review forthcoming Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance as soon as it is published.”
Employment lawyer Hina Belitz of Excello Law said the ruling highlights the “complicated picture” facing courts and employers after the Supreme Court clarified biological sex in equality law.
“This is particularly the case when determining whether individuals have rights to protected single-sex spaces,” she said.
