Midwife referred to the NMC and Prevent over her online support for Palestinians challenges Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in the Employment Tribunal

Fatimah, a mother of two who lives in London, says the referrals breach her rights under the Equality Act and constitute post-employment harassment. 

The NHS trust made the referrals to the NMC and the Met immediately following a direct complaint about Fatimah’s online activity from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). 

This followed earlier complaints about social media posts by Fatimah in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel and to voice her support for the cause of Palestinian people in Gaza. Fatimah had declined to remove social posts she had made over the following six months and in March 2024 she left CWHT where she had worked as a midwife since June 2019. 

A year later, in March 2025 Fatimah was informed the trust had referred her to the NMC and had lodged a Prevent referral with the Metropolitan Police.

Both referrals were dismissed. 

Now Fatimah, represented by employment team partner Liana Wood at law firm Leigh Day, is bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal claiming the referrals constitute post-employment harassment in breach of the Equality Act 2010. Fatimah says the referrals violated her dignity and created a hostile environment for her.

Fatimah is known for her activism, anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian views and was employed by CWHT as cultural safety lead in the maternity teams. She posts on a personal blog and social media accounts. 

A letter from Leigh Day to CWHT outlines the events that led to her legal claim.

• After a complaint was made on 8 October 2023 about Fatimahs’s social media posts voicing her support for rights of Palestinians and her opposition to Zionism, her line manager asked her to consider either deleting the posts, or deleting the account the posts had been made from. Fatimah was not prepared to do so, as her account was a personal one, and deleting the posts would impinge on her freedom of expression. 
• Following three further complaints about Fatimah’s social media posts, on 20 December 2023 CWHT received a letter from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) accusing Fatimah of expressing support for Hamas terrorists. 
• 5 January 2024: CWHT Director of Maternity wrote to Fatimah stating that if the Trust received “more emails or letters of concern”, her actions had the potential to be considered misconduct, particularly if they were found to bring Fatimah or the Trust into disrepute, and/or to constitute harassment or discrimination. 
• 24 March 2024: Fatimah left her post at CWHT. 
• 3 March 2025: CWHT received a second letter from UKLFI raising complaints about further social media posts by Fatimah. UKLFI accused Fatimah of anti-semitism, bullying and harassment, and of stirring up racial hatred against Jews and Israelis. 
• 20 March 2025: CWHT referred Fatimah to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, raising concerns about her social media use, and stating that she had expressed antisemitic views and was unable to separate conflict in the Middle East from the work of Jewish midwives on cultural safety. 
• 25 March 2025: CWHT lodged a referral with the Met for Prevent, the Home Office’s early intervention counter-terrorism programme, also on the basis of Fatimah’s online activity. 
• 26 March 2025: the NMC informed Fatimah that they would not be investigating the NMC Referral on the basis that it did not meet the seriousness criteria outlined in their guidance. The NMC stated that their role was not to police the lawful expression of personal belief by midwives.  
• 21 May 2025: Fatimah was contacted by email by an officer in the Metropolitan Police’s SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, which caused Fatimah severe distress and alarm.  
• 22 May 2025: the officer informed Fatimah that the Met had closed the Prevent referral.

In its letter to CWHT Leigh Day says the NMC and the police each assessed that Fatimah’s posts amounted to lawful expression of her beliefs and did not present cause for concern. 

Fatmiah’s legal claim will allege that the CWHT Referrals, which were made as a response to her manifestation of her long-held anti-Zionist beliefs, constitute post-employment harassment and/or discrimination under Sections 108 (1) and (2) of the Equality Act 2010. Belief is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. 

Section 108 of the Equality Act states that a person must not harass or discriminate against another if a) the harassment or discrimination arises out of and is closely connected to a relationship which used to exist between them, and (b) conduct of a description constituting the harassment or discrimination would, if it occurred during the relationship, contravene the Act. 

Fatimah says the Trust both violated her dignity and created a hostile environment for her by making the Referrals.

Fatimah Mohamied said:

"I have been subjected to a concerted and targeted effort to intimidate, harass and punish me into silence for my Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Zionism.

"I am taking legal action against my former employer to finally seek accountability for a campaign of harassment against me in the midst of a live genocide perpetrated by the Israeli state - I will not accept the attempts to silence me and those like me. Healthcare workers in the NHS have the right to critique a colonial political ideology that has upheld an illegal occupation for decades and is responsible for violating universal values of health."

Leigh Day partner Liana Wood said: 

“We say the Trust’s referrals against Fatimah, made a year after she had stopped working for them, were an entirely disproportionate response to her lawful expressions of belief on her personal blog and social media accounts. Fatimah’s case, which has parallels with other cases we have seen recently in the NHS, highlights the need for employers to resist pressure from lobby groups in such cases, and to carefully consider any potential infringement on an individual’s rights before taking action against them.”  

Fatimah is crowdfunding her legal action.