The preliminary hearing in my case was on Thursday 29th June. At that hearing, it was decided that my case should be heard at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal on 5th February 2024. It's set to run for five days. The Scottish Government has assumed responsibility for Transport Scotland, so TS is no longer a respondent. It's a huge relief to have an actual date in sight now. On the first day of the tribunal, it will be fourteen months to the day since I made my post on Yammer. 

Over the next few months, quite a bit of legal work will need to be done. We have witness statements to gather and analyse, disclosure to carry out (potentially involving a bit of a fight to get all the information we need), and a trial strategy to develop. Pertemps has called three witnesses and the Scottish Government has called ten, which makes it a pretty complicated case. There's also a lot of paperwork to be combed through, and all of it has to be done in negotiation with two different sets of lawyers, each with their own interests to protect. The calendar looks like this:

• 27/7 - we produce a statement of remedy to confirm the value of my claim.
• 11/8 - all relevant documents to be shared (this is "discovery.")
• 18/8 - productions agreed. This is the "bundle" of documents agreed on 11/8.
• 8/9 - lawyers produce a statement of agreed issues and disputed points. This helps keep the actual tribunal focused on what really matters.
• 6/10 - witness statements to be completed for all thirteen witness plus me.
• 5/2/2024 - hearing in person begins, and runs for five days.

Unfortunately, all of this means more costs. There is barely £2000 left in the kitty after all the work that's had to be done so far. I've said before how unfair it is that justice should cost so much, but we can only work with the system we have. This means I have to ask you again for your support. Every penny raised here goes straight to my legal team to fight this case. The team believes my case has merit and a realistic prospect of success. I wouldn't ask for your money otherwise. 

This case is important. If a government can ignore the rights of sex realists like this, what's stopping anyone else from doing the same? We have to tell the people who run our country that we won't accept this any longer. We won't wheesht.

Thank you. xo

Thank you so much to all of you who have donated so far! We cleared £8000 last night, which is way more than I expected after just two days.

In case you don't know how CrowdJustice works, the money goes directly to my lawyer. Every Wednesday from now until the end of the crowdfunder, she will receive all the money that's been raised so far. None of it ever comes to me. That means she's received a payment today, and is already working on compiling my evidence bundle and thinking about exactly how to frame the case. There are a lot of strands - direct discrimination, harassment, victimisation, abuse of process, and potentially even a bit of disability discrimination - and we need to work out the best way to present all of these to the tribunal.

I've been contacted by a few journalists and I'm expecting them to produce stories over the next few days. I'll tweet about them as soon as they come out, so don't forget to follow me - @McBrideVersus - if you don't already.

Please also continue to share the CrowdJustice page. Retweets are great, but it can be even more effective if you talk about your support in your own words. You can do it on Twitter, but also on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, via email or WhatsApp, or even in normal conversation (tell them to google "Crowdjustice McBride".) Tell your friends what this case means to you. How will it help you in your own workplace and your own life? Are you feeling silenced too? Is it affecting your work? Are you maybe unable to speak out yourself and want me to win so that you can? If your friends know why my case matters to you, they're much more likely to support it themselves.

Thank you all again, from the bottom of my heart. I was terrified to launch this campaign in case I fell flat on my face. You've given me a lot of hope, and lot of confidence that I'm doing the right thing. I believe we can win.