Rumour has it that a new staff member was born as a male and had gender reassignment prior to starting work at the nursery. Some of the staff are refusing to use the toilet facilities when she is in there. How should we respond?
A person may experience unlawful harassment not only where they have undergone gender reassignment, but also where it is perceived that they have. Therefore the action of the staff members could amount to harassment.
Harassment includes non-verbal conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile or degrading environment for them. This includes ostracising a member of staff or refusing to use shared facilities. The nursery must show it has taken reasonable steps to prevent this.
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