University of Manchester worker Karenne Sylvester wins £51,000 disability payout after misgendering trans colleague

A university employee has been awarded more than £51,000 in a disability discrimination case after her employer failed to take into account short-term memory problems she suffered after misgendering a transgender colleague.

Following an investigation by the University of Manchester, it was revealed that 56-year-old Karenne Sylvester “harassed” a transgender colleague.

An employment tribunal heard Ms Sylvester “persistently” used the wrong pronouns for her trans male colleague and made him cry several times.

Ms Sylvester, who has dyspraxia, said her condition caused “short-term memory problems”, making it difficult for her to use the correct pronouns consistently after her colleague’s transition.

He was transferred to a different team despite appealing the university’s finding of harassment, a move he claimed “sabotaged” his career.

He has now successfully sued the university for disability discrimination and won a settlement of £51,223.

Managers investigating the harassment claim against her chose to “ignore” that her disability was likely the reason she misgendered her colleague, the employment tribunal found.

The court, held in Manchester, heard that Ms Sylvester had worked as a learning technology specialist at the university since December 2018.

Regarding his disability, the court was told: “Dyspraxia is often associated with physical coordination problems but has much broader and more complex features.

“It is a lifelong condition that affects the way the brain processes and transmits information.

”[Ms Sylvester] “He was diagnosed with dyspraxia in November 2011, when he was 42 years old and a university student.”

Ms. Sylvester’s transgender colleague was referred to by the court only as CD. Transitioned in 3032 or 2022.

Ms. Sylvester met CD in the summer of 2022 and knew he was transitioning in the fall of that year.

The following statements were made to the court regarding the misgendering incident that occurred in February 2023: “[Ms Sylvester] He used the wrong pronoun for CD. CD fixed [Ms Sylvester].

“[Ms Sylvester] She apologized to CD and made a comment suggesting that she would likely misgender CD in the future, and apologized for future situations as well.

“[Colleague] Rebecca Oldfield made it clear: [Ms Sylvester] should not misgender CD in the future.

“Everyone went back to work. The CD was later found crying.

“[Ms Sylvester] “Then he tried to talk to CD, but CD didn’t want to talk to him.”

The court heard that following the incident Ms Sylvester was told she “could not have any physical interaction with the rest of her team, who all worked with up to 40 other staff in a shared open-plan workspace”.

While working on the university campus, he had to book a back room on the same floor to make sure he “didn’t risk coming into contact with the CD.”

The court heard that at a meeting about the incident in March, Ms Sylvester told researchers Stuart Phillipson and Martin Banks from the Faculty of Humanities that her “dyspraxia made it difficult for her to accurately determine gender CD”.

Read more: What is dyspraxia? Brain disorder is often dismissed as incompetence

Mr Phillipson, the e-learning manager, and his lead people partner Mr Banks nevertheless found that he had “persistently used the wrong pronoun over a period of time” and had “unlawfully harassed CD”.

He appealed this determination and an appeal hearing was held in September 2023. It turned out that he was harassing CD again.

Ms. Sylvester was transferred to a different team in September 2024; He said the move “sabotaged” both his career and academic goals.

He claimed that he had planned to pursue a PhD through publication but “no longer had access to relevant academics who could support this activity”.

In October 2024, he was told he would not face disciplinary proceedings for CD harassment.

The court found that the appeals panel did some “sloppy work” and failed to do some “basic due diligence.”

Employment Judge Zoe Thompson said: “Having weighed all the evidence, we find the cause of this situation to be balanced. [Ms Sylvester] he had used the wrong pronoun in this regard and it was due to dyspraxia on previous occasions.

“His dyspraxia affected his short-term memory, meaning it took him longer to consistently adopt the correct pronouns compared to a neurotypical person.”

The judge said investigators found Ms Sylvester harassed her colleague because of a condition arising from her disability and that they were “personally liable” for the discrimination allegations.

Judge Thompson added: “We found that [Mr Phillipson and Mr Banks] he was aware of this [Ms Sylvester] She was citing her dyspraxia as a possible reason for misgendering CD, and they chose to ignore this.

“We found that they did not conduct a fair or impartial investigation and then provided false information to the appeals panel.”

Ms. Sylvester’s other claims failed.