About me:

I am Andreas Mueller. I work for an arm’s length body to a government department. I am being sued for gender critical statements I made at work, and for my involvement in co-founding SEEN, a gender critical staff network.

Summary

A colleague is taking me, a government department and the Arms-Length Body (ALB) where I work to an Employment Tribunal. I am being sued for expressing gender critical beliefs at work. The claimant is also trying to shut down the gender critical SEEN (Sex Equality and Equity Network) staff network that I co-chair.

Does this all sound familiar?

If you think you’ve heard it before, you have! This is exactly what happened to a colleague of mine (Elspeth Duemmer Wrigley), who works for another ALB of the same government department. 

What you probably don’t know is that I was also listed as a Respondent to the same claim. Fortunately, the claim against me was withdrawn and I thought my nightmare was over. Then, less than eight months later, another claim landed on my doormat. Another attempt is being made to sue me for the same gender critical statements I made in the workplace. The nightmare has started all over again. 

Why am I being sued?

The allegations in the case include my activity on an internal message board, such as:

• Challenging a post that equated gender critical people with racists and homophobes

• Discussing the meaning of safeguarding following a post minimising genuine concerns by women about single sex bathrooms. 

• ‘Liking’ some gender critical posts 

• Asking colleagues not to publicly speculate on the motives for a murder which was still under active police investigation at the time

These allegations have been copied straight over from the first employment tribunal claim to the second one. 

Hang on - different people tried to sue me for virtually the same thing … twice? 

Yes, and as I mentioned above I’m also not the only one who has been targeted in this department (and its ALBs). You may have seen what happened to my friend Elspeth Duemmer-Wrigley from earlier this year: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/seen-chair-sued/. 

Although I didn’t crowdfund at the time, I was named as a Respondent in the case. I had no support from my employer, the government department or my union, but my personal insurance covered most of the cost, so I did not need to ask for help. That was why you may not have heard my name at that stage.

The original claim against me was always hopeless as I did not share an employer with the claimant (necessary to bring the claim in question). It was withdrawn shortly before the first hearing, to my huge relief. 

But now a second individual, who works for the same ALB as myself, has sued me again. There are eerie similarities between the two claims. In fact, the new claimant has copied and pasted entire sections of the previous claim (perhaps in the hope that the allegations will be more successful because we share an employer). And so I’m being dragged to the tribunal for a second time. 

What’s my position on the claim made against me?

My position is clear: all my actions described above are protected under my right to freedom of belief and expression under Articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

This claim, just like the last, is premised on an assumption that “gender-critical” beliefs are inherently discriminatory, and that it is therefore lawful to suppress all expression or manifestation of such beliefs. The claim takes no proper account of the effect of the judgment of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Forstater v CGD, nor of my Article 9 and 10 rights, as well as those of other employees.

Given the repeated nature of the claim brought against the government department, it is clear that I have been specifically targeted because of my close and visible involvement with SEEN. 

But what about the government department, what about the ALB I work for? What about my union or insurance? Surely they’d step in and help given that this is the second time this has happened in eight months? 

I am receiving no financial or legal support from either my employer or the government department.

This time I also have no insurance support. This has nothing to do with the merits of the claim but is because the policy wording only covers claims for race, sex or disability discrimination. My union has given me some welcome legal advice but is not supporting me with legal representation or costs. This is why I am having to ask for your help. 

So, why does this case matter?

Public servants cannot be allowed to use the courts to bully gender critical colleagues who express lawful views they disagree with. And yet this is exactly what they are doing.

Gender critical colleagues and friends are terrified that they will be targeted next. They fear that they will not be supported by their employers, like me and Elspeth, and left to fight alone. There is now a climate of profound fear and dread. We don’t know who might be next. The effect on public servants is tangible and chilling. 

It is unclear how many people would need to be dragged through the courts before anyone in the Civil Service or the trade unions will do anything substantial to help.

What are the other potential consequences?

If the claim succeeds, it’s likely that expressing gender critical beliefs will become difficult, if not impossible, within the Civil Service and its related bodies. The remedies the claimant is seeking against the government department (if implemented) would effectively preclude any public gender critical discourse in the workplace. 

The claimant is seeking financial damages and demanding that the departmental SEEN network, and, ideally, the cross-governmental SEEN network as well, be disbanded. In addition, the claimant also seeks disciplinary action against myself and others.

If this claim were to succeed then it could end our network, which now has over 800 members in fifty government departments and a growing number of official departmental SEENs. It would also have a profound and chilling effect on our members and other gender critical employees across the Civil Service and other public bodies, and the many new SEEN networks springing up beyond.

A reminder of what SEEN is

SEEN (the Sex Equality and Equity Network) is an official cross-governmental staff network. We also have departmental networks in a growing number of government departments. I am a co-chair of theSEEN network, which covers the government department and all the ALBs it sponsors, and on the Steering Group of the cross-governmental SEEN.

The key purpose of the network is to promote and support sex equality and equity between women and men in the workplace: https://seen-network.uk/ 

SEEN is among the first gender critical staff networks in any organisation. Since our inception other gender critical networks (independent of SEEN) have emerged to support employees in the financial sector (SEEN in the City), the police (Police SEEN UK) in Parliament (SEEN in Parliament) in HR (SEENinHR), in STEM (SEEN in STEM), Journalism (SEEN in Journalism), Sport (SEEN in Sport),  Schools (SEEN in Schools), Health (SEEN in Health), Local Authorities (Local Authority SEEN), Publishing (SEEN in Publishing), Trade Unions (TU SEEN), Retail (SEEN in Retail), and more.

What am I asking of you?

And so now, the big ask: I am crowdfunding to raise money to be able to defend myself against these baseless claims. I have asked for financial support from my employer, my trade union and my personal insurance, and been turned down by all three. I am completely on my own.

I am therefore asking for your help to ensure I can properly and fully fund the legal team I need to defend myself.

Who is representing me, and how much am I hoping to raise? 

I have instructed Jon Heath of Levins Solicitors, who was instrumental in having the previous claim against me dismissed. My initial target is £14,500, based on the estimated cost of getting the claim against us struck out at the initial hearing. My stretch target of £40,000 is based on being represented to a full ‘merits’ hearing. 

If you agree that gender critical views have a place within the Civil Service and its ALBs, and that networks that support those who are gender critical have a right to exist, please consider donating to support us. Also, please share this appeal with anyone who may also wish to support.

What will happen to any money left over?

At the end of the action, if there are any funds remaining, these would be shared with any ongoing gender critical litigation within the public sector. 

Thank you so much for anything you are able to contribute and / or sharing my crowd funder page.