A rape crisis worker who was found to have been unfairly dismissed over her gender-critical views has received £69,000 in compensation.
In May, a tribunal ruled Roz Adams was constructively dismissed by the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre (ERCC) after suffering harassment and discrimination.
There was “ample evidence” that the former chief executive of the ERCC, Mridul Wadhwa – a trans woman who resigned in September – had formed the view that Adams was transphobic and this led to a “completely spurious and mishandled disciplinary process”, the tribunal said.
According to the judgment, Adams was subjected to an internal disciplinary process “reminiscent of the work of Franz Kafka” after she questioned rules about trans female counsellors working with female survivors of sexual abuse.
Now, the ERCC has been ordered to pay Adams £68,989.71, nearly double the amount previously anticipated, as redress for discrimination and constructive dismissal, as well as compensation for emotional pain and suffering.
The centre must also publish a public apology on its website and start referring survivors of sexual assault to Beira’s Place, a support centre for female victims of sexual violence set up by the author JK Rowling, which is where Adams now works.
The ruling from Judge Ian McFatridge said it was a fact that “nothing the claimant did constituted bullying or harassment”, adding that Adams “was not transphobic”, and it seemed “extraordinary that the respondents are not prepared to send referrals to Beira’s Place”.
Adams thanked supporters and said she was “grateful” for the decision and that the compensation will enable her to take some time to “rest”. Adams said that although a public apology from her former employer would be welcome, it was more important for her to see “meaningful change” at ERCC, as well as at Rape Crisis Scotland and the Scottish government.
In a statement, she said: “My priority remains that all victim-survivors of sexual violence can make a genuinely informed choice about the service they seek and have confidence in who will support them. To restore that confidence, I urge these organisations to give a clear definition of ‘woman’.”
Adams said she was delighted that representatives of ERCC had last week visited Beira’s Place, where she now works, for a “productive” meeting.
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She added: “While I do not underestimate the harms and hurt felt by many, or the enormity of the task, I hope this suggests seedlings of change and the start of bridges being built. I urge everyone to put their focus on nurturing these seedlings, to allow people space and support to step back, rethink and repair.”
A statement from the board of the ERCC said: “We are committed to balancing the views, needs and wants of all our service users, staff and volunteers …We recognise that during the employment tribunal with Roz Adams we did not act in the right way.
“We want to publicly apologise and we understand that Roz’s actions were not motivated by transphobia, but by a genuine wish to act in the best interests of service users. We should have listened more to Roz’s concerns and never pursued disciplinary action, and for that we are sorry. Steps have already been taken to address the outcomes of both the tribunal and recommendations provided by Rape Crisis Scotland.”
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