Nottinghamshire County Council has recently threatened a teacher with a “forced remortgage” of her house after she lost a legal dispute regarding the use of a student’s preferred pronouns. The council has demanded that the teacher pays £14,000 in legal costs after her application for a judicial review was dismissed by the High Court.
The disagreement began when the teacher raised concerns about safeguarding after the school she worked at decided to support a female student’s social transition to being treated as a male. The school, whose name cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, instructed all staff members to use male pronouns and a male name when referring to the student. The school also allowed the student to use boys’ toilets and dressing rooms.
The teacher expressed her concerns about the student’s welfare and followed the school’s whistleblowing procedure to report safeguarding issues. Subsequently, after pursuing a judicial review against the school, the teacher was terminated from her position and is currently employed at a sandwich shop.
The teacher’s application for a judicial review was rejected on the grounds that she lacked the legal standing to challenge safeguarding failures. The court noted that the school had already transferred the student to a different class, making the teacher no longer responsible for their care. As a result, the judge ordered the teacher to cover the council’s legal costs.
In a letter sent to the teacher’s lawyer, Nottinghamshire County Council deemed her claims to be baseless. The council mentioned that the teacher resides in a four-bedroom property and suggested an alternative to the enforcement process, proposing a property charge and entering a property restriction based on recent house price sales in the area.
The teacher is currently pursuing an employment tribunal claim against the council, accusing them of unfair dismissal. She expressed her concerns about the council’s approach, stating that it reveals hostility towards anyone who dares to challenge transgender affirmation in schools. The teacher further commented that transgender ideology has become deeply embedded in educational institutions to the point that opposing the prevailing orthodoxy on these issues results in facing the collective weight of the entire system.