Woman loses sex discrimination case after toilet complaint

A woman has lost a discrimination claim against an aerospace firm over their toilet policy for transgender staff.

Maria Kelly objected to trans women - biological males who identify as women - being allowed into the female toilets at Leonardo UK's office in Edinburgh.

Ms Kelly, an engineer, took action against her employer alleging harassment and direct and indirect sex discrimination in March 2023.

But her complaint has been dismissed at an employment tribunal. It found Leonardo's policy did not place females at a significant disadvantage compared with male staff.

In her ruling, Judge Michelle Sutherland said the toilet policy was a "proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim" to create an inclusive workplace environment for trans staff.

She dismissed Ms Kelly's argument that it was unfair to sacrifice the privacy of women, 20% of the workforce, for the interests of five transgender staff members, 0.5 % of the workforce.

Judge Sutherland pointed out that only a single person, Ms Kelly, had raised a complaint - which amounted to 0.05% of the female workforce.

Ms Kelly, people and capability lead at the firm, had told the tribunal she considered female-only toilets a place of refuge.

She said she first became aware of a transgender person using the facilities in 2019 when a staff member from another UK office came to Edinburgh.

Ms Kelly said she did not raise the issue at the time as she feared being labelled "transphobic" or being put on the "naughty list".

She eventually raised a complaint in March 2023 after walking out of a toilet when a transgender colleague had walked in, leaving her "taken aback".

The tribunal also heard the women's toilets were "rebadged" as a WC in January 2025, but no change was made to the men's facilities because they contained urinals.

Leonardo argued that Ms Kelly had a choice of either using the toilets nearest to her desk, walking through an atrium to toilets with more privacy, or using an accessible toilet.

The firm's vice-president of people shared services, Andrew Letton, told the tribunal it was not a violation of her dignity because of the choice of facilities available.

He said the company had been "nothing but sympathetic" towards Ms Kelly's grievance and described her as a "valuable employee".

Judge Sutherland dismissed Ms Kelly's claims of harassment and sex discrimination.

She said the toilet policy did not "put women at greater risk of violence, assault or have a greater impact on their privacy" than men.

Leonard said it would "make any adjustments required" after Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance is published on how organisations should interpret the UK Supreme Court's ruling that a woman is defined in law by biological sex.

A spokesperson for Leonardo said: "We recognise that the process has been demanding for everyone involved and we appreciate the professionalism shown by colleagues who supported the proceedings.

"Our focus now is to ensure that workplace conduct remains respectful and that our facilities' policies continue to meet legal standards.

"Leonardo remains a supportive and inclusive environment for all employees."

Ms Kelly intends to appeal the ruling.