Whistleblower says she was forced out of Civil Service for her gender-critical beliefs after she spoke out over 'politicised climate of fear'
Eleanor Frances has accused two government departments of unfair dismissal
A whistleblower has said she was forced out of the Civil Service for her gender critical beliefs after she spoke out over a 'politicised climate of fear'.
Eleanor Frances, who joined the civil service in 2019, is taking two government departments to an employment tribunal on several grounds including unfair constructive dismissal and victimisation.
She is also accusing the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology of direct and indirect discrimination based on her philosophical beliefs, the Telegraph has reported.
Ms Frances claims she was left with no choice but to resign from the civil service in August 2023 after she raised concerns about discrimination and impartiality on sex and gender issues.
She said there was 'politicised climate of fear' around policies on equality, diversion and inclusion and that employees were unable to question them without facing 'negative professional consequences'.
She raised particular concerns about the civil service's definition of transphobia as a denial or refusal or accept someone's gender identity on the basis that this effectively forced employees to 'recognise male people as women'.
Eleanor Frances, (pictured) is taking two government departments to an employment tribunal on several grounds including unfair constructive dismissal and victimisation
She then wrote a letter to Simon Case (pictured), the Cabinet Secretary warning him about the 'politicised culture' in the civil service'
Ms Frances also said that the policy of 'self-identification' at work meant that men were allowed to access female single-sex facilities and women were not able to object to this.
Ms Frances, whose roles included managing a team of policy officials and working with government ministers, formally complained to the civil service internally but says she was ignored and side-lined.
She then wrote a letter to Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary warning him about the 'politicised culture' in the civil service and that its ideology on gender was a 'significant breach of impartiality'.
She told The Telegraph: 'I asked [Simon Case] in that letter to take urgent action to ensure civil service impartiality is upheld and freedom of belief is respected.
'I coordinated it because I had lost confidence in DCMS processes and felt I had nowhere else to turn.
'Two and a half months later, the response was telling me to use the departmental processes that had already failed me.'
She claimed that after she made her official complaint and that investigations were ungoing, her responsibilites were scaled back and that she was given negative feedback.
Ms Frances completed a PhD in Engineering and worked as a chartered engineer before joining the civil service in 2019.
Ms Frances claimed there was 'politicised climate of fear' around policies on equality, diversion and inclusion
She said she was 'successful in her role' and 'exceeded' expectations in performance reviews.
A crowdfunder has been set up by the Free Speech Union to pay for Ms Frances's legal representation at the employment tribunal.
Jill Levene, legal counsel at the FSU, spoke out in support of Ms Frances's case, saying that her treatment was an example of how the civil service had been 'captured by radical progressive ideology'.
A preliminary hearing was already heard last month and there are expected to be further hearings later this year.
A spokesperson for the Government said: 'We cannot comment on ongoing legal proceedings.'
MailOnline has contacted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for further comment.