A social worker who was suspended from work after airing her gender critical views on social media has been awarded a substantial payout in a landmark case.

Rachel Meade won her claim on the basis her belief a person “cannot change their sex” was protected under the Equality Act.

The 55-year-old, from Dartford, had been suspended by her employer Westminister City Council while a misconduct investigation was carried out by regulator Social Work England.

Ms Meade, who had worked as a social worker for 20 years, was warned she could be sacked after complaints were raised by a member of the public who could see posts she liked and shared promoting her views on Facebook.

The employment tribunal report stated Ms Meade held "gender-critical” beliefs, which included the belief that sex is immutable and “not to be confused with gender identity”.

A disciplinary investigation was launched and Rachel said she spent two years “facing all the different sanctions and processes”.

She said: “Suddenly my reputation was in tatters. I felt so isolated and alone. I felt like I’d done something awful. It was dreadful.”

Ms Meade was warned she could be sacked for misconduct and received a final written warning after her suspension. This was later withdrawn.

She believed she was “bullied into silence” for trying to speak up for women’s rights and vowed to fight back as a trailblazer for others.

The social worker took Westminister City Council and Social Work England to an employer tribunal for harassment and discrimination and in January it ruled in her favour.

The panel said the comments were not discriminatory and that it was "wholly inappropriate that an individual such as (Ms Meade) espousing one side of the debate should be labelled discriminatory”.

A further remedy judgment was issued on Friday (April 26) which awarded her more than £58,000 in damages.

Social Work England, the regulator for social workers in England, was ordered to pay £5,463 “as exemplary damages” as a result of “its serious abuse” of its regulatory power.

The regulator and Westminster City Council were also ordered to train managers on freedom of expression and protected belief.

Speaking after the judgment, Rachel said: “It’s a huge relief that it’s finally over and that the tribunal awarded a significant amount of compensation to reflect the serious nature of the harassment I experienced at the hands of my professional regulator and employer just for expressing legitimate beliefs and concerns.

“It remains concerning for our profession that as an organisation Social Work England cannot apologise or publicly acknowledge their mistaken stance to date. They urgently need to implement the findings of the CASS review into best practice”.

Ms Meade’s solicitor, Shazia Khan, of Cole Khan Solicitors, added: “The judgment is a damming indictment of Social Work England and Westminster City Council’s prolonged and oppressive treatment of my client.

“An award of exemplary damages against a reggulator for the manner in which it has carried out its function is unprecedented.

“This should serve as a resounding warning to all regulators that they must not let their processes be weaponised by activists who seek to punish and silence legitimate debate”.

Social Work England said it was considering the outcome of the judgment and was committed to learning from this case.

We are committed to learning from this case

Speaking in response, Colum Conway, chief executive of the regulator, said: “As the regulator for the social work profession in England, we exist to protect the public, as set out in legislation.

“As such, we will continue to consider every concern we receive about a social worker.

“We recognise that this has been a particularly difficult case for those involved, conducted against a backdrop of debate on many issues within society in relation to freedom of expression.

“Our professional standards reflect the diversity of social work practice and the positive impact it has on people’s lives, families and communities.

“We will continue our work in this area and clearly articulate the reasons when there are reasonable grounds to investigate a social worker’s fitness to practice.”

A Westminster council spokesperson said: “We have received the findings of the remedy hearing and will need to take a little time to digest before responding more fully.

“We have apologised to Rachel Meade and the points which emerged during the tribunal and remedy hearing are an important and helpful guide in clarifying what is acknowledged to be a rapidly evolving area of employment law.”